


Summer Accidents

by kittandchips



Series: Force Bond [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Parent Darth Vader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-11
Updated: 2006-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 47,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23906023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittandchips/pseuds/kittandchips
Summary: This is part of the Force Bond series, an AU where Vader raises Luke, but is a complete story unto itself. It is set between FB2 and 3, and after Social Trials, when Luke is fourteen. Luke is on summer vacation ... and also on a mission to drive his father to insanity. In Vader's opinion, at least. In Luke's opinion, it's all just a string of accidents.
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Series: Force Bond [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1722820
Comments: 39
Kudos: 113





	1. Chapter 1

"Ground control to _Black 2_. Come in _Black 2_. Do you read me?"

Luke grinned. _Black 2_ was often the designation given to his father's wingmate.

"Hi Lev," he said, not looking away from his hand-held starfighter sim game. He'd only started playing this an hour ago and already he was addicted. It was a thirty-year-old relic that had once been owned by his father, and he'd gifted it to him after he'd begged him for a flying lesson, but instead he'd suggested this. Since then, it had gathered dust in his closet for a few weeks while the disappointment had worn off. He'd found it this afternoon, and he'd been playing it ever since. It was surprisingly good for something so old. "What's up?"

"The ceiling, last time I checked," Lev said, coming to look over Luke's shoulder.

"That joke is so old," Luke groaned, reaching into a nearby bowl of snack food.

"Your father wants to see you," Lev explained.

"Then why doesn't he come and see me?" Luke asked, not bothering to pause the game. He was just about to trump his last high score. "Unlike him, I don't have an appointment schedule."

"I think he intended for you to come to his location, Luke. He's in the conference room near the conservatory."

"Let me get this straight," Luke said, pressing the controls rapidly. "He wants to see me, so I have to get up off my bed and walk across half the palace? Forget it! Tell him I'm trying to play the game he gave me."

Lev's normally unshakeable good temper was starting to sound a little stretched. "You can discuss that with him yourself."

"I'm not going," Luke said, stubbornly, focusing on the viewscreen.

"Luke, please don't deliberately put your father in a worse mood. Perhaps you can avoid him, but the rest of us aren't so lucky."

Luke sighed. "Guilt, huh?" he said, taking a moment to look up.

Lev grinned. "I prefer 'appealing to your sense of good judgment'."

A sad noise emanated from the game, and Luke looked back to find he'd been blown away by an enemy starfighter. "No! Oh, blast it, I suppose I _have_ to go now."

Luke tossed the game on his bedside table and struggled to his feet. So much for a lazy afternoon.

"It shouldn't take long," Lev said. "You'll be back shooting down pirates before you know it."

"What does he _want_ , anyway?" Luke asked, following Lev out into the corridor.

"It has something to do with a remote controlled rocket," Lev explained, walking ahead of Luke towards the elevator.

"What about it?"

"And a broken window."

"Am I in trouble?" Luke asked, turning to Lev in surprise. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've made a break for it, and you could have told him I wasn't home."

Lev chuckled. "Come on, Luke. You have nothing to fear from your father."

"Says you."

There was silence until they stepped out of the elevator, and Luke took the time to try and think up some good excuses. The doors to the conference room loomed large, just a few meters down the corridor.

"Good luck," Lev said, patting him on the back.

"Thanks." Luke swallowed and ventured onwards.

As he walked through the doors, the occupants immediately turned towards him. His father was standing opposite an elaborately dressed man, who was flanked by a couple of royal guards. Commander Julius, from the palace security team, was near the door, watching the scene with an expression that Luke liked to call her 'questioning all my life choices' face. She looked relieved to see him, but the elaborately-dressed stranger was looking at Luke with a mix of indignation and surprise.

"Luke, this Administrator Tennan," his father said, gesturing at the man. "He is the executive director of the Imperial Tax Department. Their office is located in one of the neighboring buildings."

"Hello," Luke said, walking forward and offering him his hand. It wasn't accepted. Luke let it fall back by his side.

"He claims this rocket—" his father held up the offending item, which now resembled a charred cylinder more than it did a rocket, "—smashed through his office window and disrupted a management meeting." His father placed the sorry remains on the conference table. "The security investigation concluded you were responsible for this."

Luke swallowed, staring at what was left of his toy. He could try denying the whole thing, but his father had an annoying habit of seeing straight through any lies. Besides, it was an accident.

"I ... I was flying it around on a balcony, and then it disappeared," Luke admitted. "I thought it had burned up on the security shield. I didn't know it had gone through a window!"

The administrator made an odd snorting noise. "I don't believe it."

"What is it you do not believe, Administrator?" his father enquired, sounding halfway between boredom and annoyance.

"With all due respect, Lord Vader, I do not believe that your son would normally entertain himself with toy rockets. This was a deliberate act of vandalism. One of those arrogant loons at IMH probably put him up to it—this was their idea of a joke."

"That's not true. I don't even know where the tax department is or which window is your office," Luke insisted. He glanced up at his father, wondering if he doubted his story. He seemed more impatient than angry, however. His earlier tone suggested he considered this whole incident to be beneath his notice.

"You don't know where the tax department is?" the administrator repeated, in a patronizing tone. "You must visit so I can give you a personal tour of the damage you caused!"

Commander Julius raised a hand in front of the administrator, while shooting a nervous glance at his father. "Given this was clearly an accident," she said, in a conciliatory tone, "perhaps it's best if we leave it there and—"

"I want an apology," the administrator demanded.

"I'm sorry," Luke said, immediately.

"At our next executive meeting," he added.

"I suppose you would also like some silence money," Vader suggested, with a hint of sarcasm.

Luke smirked at the tone, but it went over the administrator's head.

"That would not be an unreasonable request. I, of course, would never run to the media, but I cannot vouch for every worker in my department."

"And what will you do if I do not oblige?" his father said. His tone had taken on a cold, dangerous edge that quickly wiped the smirk off Luke's face. Commander Julius was slowly edging away from the administrator.

The man started to open his mouth, but then paused, clearly thinking better of it.

"You are a fortunate man, Administrator," his father said, pointing at him. "I will let you live today due to the presence of my son. But if you ever speak to him with such disrespect again, you will not be so lucky."

There was a second or two of tense silence, and then his father made a gesture to the guards. Luke hastily moved away from the exit, anticipating they were about to show him out. He didn't need any encouragement though. He was quickly followed by Commander Julius, who reached out to pat his shoulder on her way out.

When they were alone in the room, Luke looked up at his father, wondering what he was going to say. Maybe he should say something first. Anything he said might only make his father angrier, and he was already at the stage of making death threats.

Eventually, his father turned to him.

"Why aren't you at school?"

"Huh?" Luke said, surprised.

"School. It is not the weekend and you appear in good health. Why are you here?"

"That's a really good question," Luke said, meshing his fingers together. "Um … I may have a few days off. But! Before you say we're going to Mustafar, let's just think it over. I know you've been really busy with all the Rebel activity along that shipping route, and you're having all those meetings with ISB agents, so maybe it would be better if we stayed here."

"A few days?" his father repeated, sounding confused.

"A few days … a few weeks." Luke shrugged. "I haven't checked what day we're going back."

"How many weeks?" His father's tone had become dangerous.

Luke raised his hands. "It's only six! Well, six and a half if you want to get technical."

His father didn't reply for a good three breathing cycles. Luke smiled, looking at the floor.

"Summer vacation," he said, finally catching on.

"Yes."

"We will leave for Mustafar as soon as I have dealt with this issue affecting the Mathalar shipping route."

"No! _Please_." Luke gripped the back of a conference room chair. "Not for six weeks straight! You know I'll get so bored. You don't even let me go outside there!"

"Then what are you planning to do with yourself here? Is this what I have to look forward to?" His father gestured at the broken rocket.

Luke frowned. "That's not fair. Okay, so I broke a window—like Commander Julius said, it was an accident! I wasn't deliberately causing havoc. Besides, that rocket cost me my entire week's allowance. I should take it back and ask for a refund."

"Next time you lose an airborne projectile, inform palace security immediately."

"Sure," Luke said.

It seemed to take his father a moment to realize what he'd just said.

"This is not an appropriate environment for any remote controlled toys, especially one that flies. Go to a park if you must."

"It's boring going to the park by myself."

"Where is your spineless friend?"

Luke frowned. " _Ben_ is with his father, visiting family on another planet. He'll be back next week."

"This is sounding worse by the second," his father said, staring at the ceiling as if sensing a disturbance in the Force.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Luke protested. "I have lots of things to do. You won't even notice I'm home. Or perhaps we could work on an engineering project together?"

His father pointed at him. "You have a week. Then we will go to Mustafar."

"But—"

His father was already walking towards the exit.

"Where are you going?" Luke asked.

"To meditate," his father said, sounding weary.

* * *

A long break from school was a relatively new experience for Luke. On Tatooine, school had always been arranged around the farming seasons. There had been no school during the harvest, but it certainly didn't feel like a holiday. Last year, his father had been away during most of his summer break, and he had gone on vacation with Ben and his father.

This year, he had been elusive about the upcoming vacation, careful not to bring it up around his father. It wasn't that he minded spending a weekend on Mustafar, but the thought of six weeks on the barren, volcanic planet would test anyone's patience. Well, anyone besides Vaneé.

Today, nearly two weeks into this break from school, he was almost ready to change his mind about that. At least his father was generally in a better mood when they were away from Coruscant.

"It's not fair," he said, staring miserably at Artoo. He was sitting on an upturned crate in a hangar bay tech room, so his astromech droid was at eye-level. "He just doesn't understand."

Artoo whistled in agreement.

"We heard about the accident," Threepio said, walking forward to hand Luke a hydrospanner. Luke accepted it and began to tighten the bolts on the droid he was building. "You have mine and Artoo's sympathy, Master Luke."

"See, even you can see it was an accident," Luke said, resorting to using the hydrospanner to punch holes in a piece of rusted metal. "He doesn't know the meaning of the word _accident_."

Beside him, Artoo made some comforting beeps.

"I say I'm sorry, but he just doesn't listen. He doesn't even know _how_ to listen."

"Your father is very ... irascible, Master Luke."

Luke stared at the ceiling, putting the spanner aside.

"He hasn't even finished yelling at me yet. He just walked off and said he needed to calm down. He's probably going to come down here any minute now and—"

Artoo's wheels suddenly whirred into life, and he began to reverse away.

"Master Luke, Artoo and I are needed down at the other end of the hangar," Threepio said, quickly. "Come along, Artoo."

"Wait!" Luke called. "I need your help—"

He broke off, realizing his droids had already gone.

Luke sighed, and stared at the half-built droid in front of him. "Some pals they are. At least _you_ can't run away." He tightened another bolt, getting an odd idea. He hadn't decided on what type of droid this was going to be, but Artoo and Threepio's hasty departure deserved a little playful revenge.

* * *

Vader raised his gloved hand and pressed the button for Luke's doorcom. After a short wait, the doors slid open and Luke stepped out.

"Luke, we _need_ to talk."

His son only grinned in response. "I'm not Luke."

"Then who are you?" he asked, with a mixture of impatience and sarcasm.

He wasn't answered. Instead, another Luke stepped out of the room to join the first. Now there were two of them, identical in every way.

" _I'm_ Luke," the second one said. "This is my brother."

"You don't have a brother," Vader said, staring at the second 'Luke' in disbelief.

"I do now! They were doing free cloning at the university and I decided to try it out."

"What?! You _cloned_ yourself? Without my permission?"

More 'Lukes' began to join them in the corridor. They clustered around him, and began to talk loudly.

"Hi!"

"I'm bored!"

"I'm hungry!"

"Give me some attention!"

One of them reached up and tugged on his cape. "Are you my father?"

"No!" Vader said, shifting away. "Luke, how many clones are there?"

But his original son had disappeared, blending into the ever-growing crowd.

"Dad!"

"I need attention!"

"No!" Vader said, feeling on the verge of panic.

He backed into the wall, and then sat up quickly. The voices of the clones had disappeared, and now he could only hear his respirator, working overtime. His vision cleared, and he found himself surrounded by the white inner walls of his meditation chamber. No Lukes. No Luke, either.

Vader clenched his fists against the armrests, realizing he must have fallen asleep during his meditation. It was no surprise he was having nightmarish visions involving Luke. It had been one thing after another since this summer break horror had begun.

An hour ago, he'd been trying to read over the latest reports on Rebel attacks along trade routes. The sound of something exploding put an end to that, and he had arrived in the hangar only to find Luke surrounded by five royal guards, two security officers, the palace fire safety droid squad, and a hazardous waste disposal unit. In the center of all this was the burned out remains of expired fuel cartridges. Apparently his son thought it could be fun to ignite them with an elaborate system of wires.

His fingers clenched tighter around the armrests at the memory. He'd come in here to try and calm down before facing Luke again, but it wasn't helping. He'd very nearly lost his temper, after Luke had proclaimed, in his best innocent voice, that it was just an accident.

Vader swiveled his chair to face his computer, deciding it was time he went and finished his earlier conversation with his son. The monitor was filled with a document he'd promised to present to Luke this morning. It was a list of all the mishaps his son had caused over the last two weeks—at least, all the ones he could remember off hand.

His eye browsed the list, making sure there was nothing he'd forgotten.

_breaking a window with a toy rocket_

_overloading a power socket_

_blowing out four rooms' worth of lights_

_using a hover-board in the corridors_

_taking a speeder comlink apart_

_claiming you didn't know how to put it back together_

_distracting stormtroopers and guards from their duties_

_causing an explosion in the hangar_

Vader reached up to finish it off, flinching slightly with the memory.

_claiming everything was 'just an accident'_

They were supposed to leave for Mustafar tomorrow. The trip had been delayed by a new development in the Mathalar trade route problems, and reading over this list, it was fortunate it had been. He didn't want to imagine what 'accidents' his son could have had on Mustafar. Molten lava did not have a lot of tolerance for accidents.

Vader pressed a button and collected a hardcopy printout of the list. It was time to go and present his case to Luke. It would be difficult for his son to argue with the raw evidence right in front of him.

As he left the chamber and headed for the ship hangar, he silently hoped that Luke was actually down there doing something constructive, and not somewhere else causing more trouble. Although, being in the ship hangar wasn't any guarantee of not causing trouble, either, as this list was testament to.

He was trying to be patient with Luke, but it was growing more difficult by the day. Earlier in the week, he had taken his son to the medical center to get his wrist examined, after he'd careened into a wall on his hover-board in the hallway outside the Grand Vizier's office. Doctor Leeson had suggested that Luke's behavior was simply the result of boredom and restlessness. It was something he could readily identify with. Faded memories from his youth told of a time when he felt much the same way. But hover-boarding in the Jedi temple hallways had never even crossed his mind.

None of the doctor's flakey advice had given him any realistic idea of how to deal with this. Simply lecturing Luke wasn't helping. And he couldn't ground him, or take away his HoloNet access. That would only increase his son's boredom. Perhaps he should try assigning Luke a permanent stormtrooper babysitter. But that could be construed as a worse punishment for the unlucky stormtrooper.

When the elevator doors slid open, Vader walked across to Luke's favorite workroom. Inside, he found his son sitting on an upturned crate, tinkering with a half-completed droid. He looked up at his entrance, and quickly rose to his feet. His expression was apprehensive.

Vader didn't say anything. He simply presented the list. It was read quickly, and then put aside.

"I said I was sorry for all those things."

"If only your apologies meant you would not repeat the same behavior a day later," Vader suggested.

Luke turned away and began fidgeting with the tools on the bench. "I do try. Some things just seem like nothing could go wrong ..."

"Is that what you thought about the explosives?!" Vader enquired, stepping forward and placing a hand on Luke's shoulder. He turned his son back around so they were facing each other. "That _nothing_ could go wrong?"

"I told you they weren't explosives," Luke insisted, looking up with pleading blue eyes. "They were just expired fuel cartridges. I didn't know they were going to explode. I thought they'd just pop. Besides, I was testing out a new type of soldering wire and needed to see what kind of resistance it had to—."

"I am not going to dignify that with a response."

Luke's shoulders slumped, and he dropped his gaze as if anticipating the start of another lecture. He'd certainly had enough of those over the past week. Vader was getting sick of delivering them as much as Luke was sick of hearing them.

"I am not here to reiterate the stupidity of playing with an ignition source," Vader said, to Luke's visible relief. "I believe I made my point earlier."

Luke cringed at the reminder. "You didn't have to yell at me in front of everyone like that," he mumbled. "It was embarrassing."

" _You_ were embarrassed? How do you think your behavior makes me feel?"

Luke sighed, heavily. "I didn't mean to make you angry," he said, sounding genuinely sorry.

Vader had to resist the urge to sigh himself. For all his son's expertise at being reckless, he was also equally good at being contrite. Despite himself, he spoke his next words in a slightly gentler tone.

"Son, I know it can be difficult to find ways to occupy yourself. However, I also know that you can do a lot better than the items on that list."

Luke nodded.

"I worry that you are going to hurt yourself far worse than a sprained wrist before you return to school."

"It's actually a lot better now," Luke said, rubbing it.

"I want you to understand my point of view. You may think I would prefer you to sit in your room and meditate, but that is not the case. I want you to occupy your time constructively. I want you to be happy. But, most important of all, I want you to be safe."

"I know," Luke said, sounding touched. He looked up and met Vader's gaze once again. "Well, I have some good news. Ben came back tonight. He's coming over with a new holo-game tomorrow."

 _Thank the Force_ , Vader thought. Perhaps he could start employing Ben to keep his son out of trouble.

"Do you think you can avoid any accidents between now and then?" Vader enquired. "Or do I need to assign someone to watch you?"

Luke held up his hands. "I'm building a droid. See?"

Vader glanced at it. "What type of droid?"

"It's a secret ... I don't want Artoo and Threepio to know."

"You need to realign the maneuvering circuits," Vader said, gesturing at the shell.

"I know, but I got stuck. I was looking for some larger capacitors, but instead I found—" Luke paused.

"The fuel cartridges?" Vader suggested.

Luke nodded, looking aside.

Vader walked over to the bench and spread out the rough blueprints Luke had drawn up. He gestured for his son to join him. "Show me where you are having trouble."

"You're going to help me?!" Luke said, as he came to stand beside him.

"I do know a few things about building droids," Vader said.

"I know, but ... I thought we were ... you know, uh ... not on good terms."

"What?"

"Yesterday you said you were thinking about freezing me in carbonite for the rest of the summer."

"Is that really something you wish to remind me of?" Vader asked.

"This morning you said I was driving you to insanity."

"Perhaps, my son, I am simply more forgiving than you give me credit for," Vader suggested.

Luke stared at him for a moment, and then broke into a grin. "I'm stuck right here," he said, pointing at the center of a circuit diagram.

Vader was about to start discussing the droid, but something made him hesitate.

"Speaking of my sanity," he said, finally. "If any organization were to offer to clone you, please tell me you would say no."

* * *

Building the droid together turned out to be an excellent idea. Luke had stayed out of trouble for two days—something he hadn't managed to do since the start of this wretched summer break. Vader had even felt comfortable enough to attend a joint chief's meeting at IMH, having left Luke to finish off some soldering. It seemed these ideas about 'parental attention' and 'quality time' Luke's doctor was so fond of had some merit after all.

Afterwards, he sought out a meeting with the Emperor to discuss what he'd learned from the military chiefs. They had made a breakthrough with the Rebel attacks along the trade routes. It seemed they had identified a common thread in all of the attacks. A thread which required his attention.

The Emperor seemed almost amused when he entered his office.

"Lord Vader. I am surprised to see you, considering the circumstances. I understood young Skywalker had been causing some difficulties as of late."

Vader had to fight to avoid sighing as he came to a halt in front of the desk. Privacy seemed to be a non-existent concept in the palace.

"My duty to the Empire always comes first, Master. I understand we have a traitor in the Mathalar regional fleet."

"Captain Flenn," the Emperor agreed. "You wish to go and pay him a visit?"

"I suspect he will go into hiding as soon as I leave the capital," Vader said. "He already knows his tendency to 'lose' the ships in his care has been brought to my attention. He may have already disappeared."

"It is his family ties with the regional governor that have allowed him to avoid notice for so long," the Emperor said, leaning back in his chair. "I may have the governor executed, just to make an example to the rest of the Moffs." He shook his head. "I can't abide people who get sentimental about their family."

"With your permission, I will send someone else to take care of Captain Flenn," Vader said, quickly trying to keep the conversation on track. "I will have him brought back alive, so I can interrogate him as to the whereabouts of our missing ships."

"Who do you propose to send?"

Vader considered it. A resourceful, yet traitorous officer like Captain Flenn required expert attention. Any regular Imperial field agent would likely make a mess of the situation. An independent for hire would be the best choice. As luck would have it, Boba Fett was supposedly on Coruscant, dealing with a former business associate of Jabba the Hutt.

On the other hand, inviting Fett over to meet with him while Luke was around wasn't a good idea. _Curse_ this never-ending summer break.

"I will give it some thought, Master."

"Very well. See to it, my friend."

Vader bowed and turned to leave, but the Emperor added an afterthought.

"And if you require any assistance in keeping your young offspring in line, I would be happy to take him off your hands for a few days." He raised his hands slightly. "Electrocution goes a long way towards teaching discipline and obedience."

Vader stared blankly for a few seconds, wondering how in the galaxy he was going to respond.

"Thank you for the offer, Master," Vader said, finally, hoping he sounded sincere. "I will give it ... due consideration."

The Emperor didn't add anything further, and Vader made a swift exit.

* * *

Luke found himself smiling as he carefully soldered a circuit into place. Building this droid had been thoroughly captivating, from poring over the hastily drawn blueprints to rummaging through one last container of spare droid parts. And, as an added bonus, he and his father had actually spent some time together which didn't involve him being in trouble. A miracle unto itself.

"There," Luke said, flicking the droid's access panel shut. "That's the last circuit. You're all finished now."

No response was forthcoming from the droid, and Luke frowned in annoyance. "Or maybe not ..."

"Perhaps you should try switching it on," a voice rumbled behind him.

"Oh, right!" Luke said, startled. He'd been so focused on this project, he had been unaware of his father's arrival. He did as his father suggested, and the barrel-like droid lit up and began to whir.

"Greetings," it said. "I am REQ-Less-1, astromech-protocol hybrid automaton. If you need something repaired or translated, I can assist you."

"REQ-Less-1!?" Luke said, annoyed. "Reckless one?"

"I programmed in its name yesterday," his father explained, walking forward to stand beside Luke.

"Not funny! I'm going to fix that right now," Luke said, reaching for the access panel again. "By the way, don't let Artoo or Threepio see this droid yet. I need to introduce them slowly, or it might end up in pieces. Ben is coming over soon to see it, and I want it to still be here."

"Good timing. I have a reward for you—something you can share with your friend."

Luke instantly shot back up, all annoyance over the droid's name forgotten. "A reward? Why?"

"Because you have gone two days without having any 'accidents'."

"A reward for being good?" Luke said, smirking. "I haven't got one of those since I was six years old."

"You are too old for it, then?"

"I didn't say that," Luke said, hastily. "What is it?"

His father handed him a datachip. Luke turned it over and read the description on the screen.

"VIP double pass to Extreme Thrillzone, Imperial City's newest and most extreme amusement park!" Luke glanced up at his father. "Wow! Where did you get ...? Never mind! Thanks!"

Luke ran for the elevators, not bothering to look back.

* * *

Vader watched until Luke had disappeared, and then glanced at the droid. It had arms and a head much like Threepio's, but its body and wheels were modified astromech parts. It was currently twisting around in circles and waving its arms as if it didn't know what to do with them. Part of him was hoping to be here when Artoo and Threepio caught sight of it. The other part was annoyed that he'd find something so childish entertaining.

His comlink began to beep, shifting his attention away from the droid. It lit up with the image of a palace assistant.

"Sir, we've managed to locate Boba Fett. He will be here within the hour."

"Good. Ensure security is informed of his pending arrival."

Vader switched it off, and walked out of the tech room. He was so busy thinking about what information Fett would need that he almost bumped into Luke. He glanced down, surprised to find his son had returned so soon. Hopefully he hadn't heard anything.

"Did you forget something?" Vader asked.

"I forgot to turn the droid off," Luke said, folding his arms.

Vader waved a hand in the direction of the room, and a clicking noise followed. "Done. Now make yourself scarce."

"Why?" Luke said, his voice dripping with suspicion. "Is someone coming to visit?"

"You should know better than to eavesdrop," Vader said, pointing at Luke's chest.

"You tricked me!"

"As much as I would like to hear your flawed reasoning as to why that is the case, I have matters of importance to attend to." Vader started to walk away, but Luke spoke again.

"I should have known you would never do anything nice without having an ulterior motive."

Vader glanced back at Luke, wondering why he was letting himself be dragged into this conversation.

"Luke, I require some privacy this afternoon. Now, I could have made you stay in your room with a databook, but I was kind enough to make other arrangements."

"So you bribed me to get rid of me and pretended it was a reward?" Luke tossed the datachip back. "Keep it. I'll just stay in here and work on the droid. Tell your guest I'm a technician." Luke turned and stomped off back into the workroom.

Vader stared briefly at the ceiling, wondering why these adolescent moods were so incomprehensible. A moment ago his son had been excited about the amusement park, and now he was throwing a childish tantrum. He walked after Luke, hoping the security guards were not watching this conversation.

"Luke, I will give you two choices. You can go to an amusement park with your friend, or you can spend the time in your quarters with stormtroopers to guard you. Which would you prefer?"

"You're being completely unfair!" Luke protested.

"I do not recall that being one of the choices."

"I'm staying right here," Luke said, stubbornly. He sat down on the bench and folded his arms in a smaller reflection of Vader's posture.

"Are you _disobeying_ your father?" Vader asked, trying not to lose his patience.

"What kind of father tries to _bribe_ his son because he's so _ashamed_ that he doesn't want to let a guest see him?"

"Who said anything about being ashamed? Now, you have five seconds to make your choice, or I will choose for you."

"You're going to force me to go to an amusement park?"

"That wasn't the choice I was going to make. And you have two seconds left."

Luke sat back further on the bench and looked aside. Vader remained silent for a few breathing cycles, wondering why Luke always made things so difficult. Finally, he shifted into the doorway, and beckoned to a couple of stormtroopers guarding the elevators.

They ran over immediately, and he stood back to allow them to enter.

"Escort my son to his quarters," Vader said, gesturing at Luke, "and guard the door. He is not allowed to leave until I come to release him."

"What?! Oh boy, this is low!" Luke protested, as the troopers came to stand on either side of him. "Even for you! The least you could have done was drag me there yourself!"

Vader gestured for the troopers to leave. One made to grab Luke's arm, but Luke shook it off and trudged towards the door.

As he walked past, he paused and glanced up at Vader. "Um ... can I have those tickets back?"

"I would not want to offend your morality by offering you a bribe," Vader said, turning away.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

It took a lot of whining, but Luke finally convinced the stormtroopers to guard him outside the door, rather than inside. Once he was the only occupant, he punched the pillow out of pure frustration. Here he was, locked up in his room like a prisoner ... and he hadn't done anything wrong! Who was this mysterious guest that could make his father so ashamed of him?

On the table beside his bed, his comlink began beeping. Luke picked up the projector and it lit up with a small image of Ben.

"I'll be there soon," he said. "Give me ten minutes."

Luke sighed. "I think we're going to have to postpone."

"Why? Is your father there? I don't mind, as long as I don't have to see him."

"He is, but that's not the problem. The problem is the two stormtroopers outside my bedroom door."

Ben grinned. "What did you do?"

"Nothing! That's the worst part of it. There have been accidents all week, and he hasn't punished me at all ... we were even getting on well yesterday. Then today he comes into the tech room and tries to bribe me to get me out of here. He's got someone coming over."

"Who?"

Luke shrugged. "Someone important I suppose. Whoever it is, my father doesn't want them to see me." Luke dropped his gaze. "He's never acted like this before. He's never acted like he's ashamed of me."

"Maybe there's another reason," Ben suggested. "Maybe his guest is dangerous, and he doesn't want the guest to know you exist, in case it puts you in danger."

"Dangerous? You mean ... like a bounty hunter?" Luke's eyes were shining.

"Maybe."

"Meet me in the elevator hub after the security checkpoint," Luke said, suddenly.

"I thought you said there were stormtroopers."

Luke waved a hand. "I'll _deal_ with them. Just be here as fast as you can."

* * *

Vader was pacing up and down in the hangar bay conference room, thinking back over his conversation with Luke. Perhaps he could have handled it better. His son would not have been so uncooperative if he had known why he wanted to shelter him from this particular guest. But that was out of the question. Telling his son that a notorious bounty hunter was coming to visit would be like waving a red flag in front of a ronto.

He paced through a few more cycles, and then stretched out with the Force, making sure Luke was still safely in his bedroom. Next time, he would arrange to meet the bounty hunter somewhere else, and so avoid the problem of Luke altogether.

An assistant appeared in the doorway.

"Sir, _Slave I_ has just docked on the north landing pad."

* * *

Luke had to smirk at Ben's disbelieving expression as he sauntered out of an elevator.

"Don't tell me," his friend said. "There are two stormtroopers chasing after you?"

"No," Luke said. "It will be a while before they realize I'm not in my room."

"So how did you get out? Window? Ventilation shaft?"

"I figured out last week that if I overloaded one of the power sockets in my room, it would blow the lights in the neighboring storage room. They make a loud bang and sparks fly everywhere. So the stormtroopers went running off to see what was happening, then I sneaked out. Genius, huh?"

"If you say so," Ben said. He pointed towards a corridor that led to an exit. "Can we get out of here? Because I don't want to be around when your father finds out about this."

"Sure," Luke said, turning back to the elevators. "But I want to see the bounty hunter first."

"That would involve actually going to the place where your father is. How is that a good idea?"

"We'll be careful," Luke said, pressing a button to summon an elevator. "Come on, I _really_ want to see who my father didn't want me to meet. It might be someone even better than a bounty hunter!"

"Like a psychopath?" Ben suggested, with a touch of sarcasm.

"Come on, buddy," Luke said, dragging him into the nearest elevator.

* * *

"An Imperial officer," Fett said, studying the file.

Fett, as always, was a man of few words, but Vader could discern his meaning clearly. The bounty hunter was disappointed at the lack of challenge.

"A traitor. He has used his position to deliver ships into the hands of the Rebels. Their spies are also assisting him. He has the means to disappear should he suspect we are taking action against him. Do not underestimate his resourcefulness."

Fett nodded once.

"I want him alive," Vader continued. "However, if it should come down to a matter of losing him entirely or taking him dead, I would prefer dead."

"Alive it is," Fett said. "I will deliver him within two weeks."

* * *

They took the elevator to the floor above the hangar bay, and then Luke led Ben into a small guard station overlooking the bay. It was currently unoccupied, but the monitors were lit up with views from various security cameras.

"That must be his ship!" Luke said, pointing at the top one. "It's sitting out on the landing pad."

"So where is the crazed murderer, then?" Ben asked.

Luke rolled his eyes. "He must be with my father. Come on, we can take the stairs down to the floor. Let's take a closer look at his ship."

"Your father might be down there!"

"He's not. He's in the conference room ... it's over there." Luke pointed acrossways.

"Those conference room windows overlook the hangar. Your father will see us."

"He's talking to someone important," Luke said. "He won't be staring out the window. He only does that when he's talking to someone boring."

Ben held up his hands. "Maybe you're willing to risk it but—"

"Are you scared?" Luke said, mockingly.

"Yes," Ben said, bluntly. "He may be your father, Luke, but I'm not going to risk getting on his wrong side. He'd kill me."

"I promise you, he won't see us," Luke said. "We'll sneak along the wall, and then run to the landing pad. It will just take a few seconds to look at the ship. Then we can get out of here."

Ben sighed. "Okay. But this is a bad idea."

"Since when have you not been up for my bad ideas?" Luke asked. "Come on!"

They ran down the stairwell to the hangar floor, and then quickly shifted behind a stationary TIE Fighter. Luke looked up at the conference room windows, making sure no one was watching. Luke then shuffled along the wall, quickly moving from ship to ship, until both he and Ben were a few meters from the landing pad entrance.

"Okay," Luke whispered. "Now's our chance. Run for it."

"You go first," Ben said.

"Okay, but if I get over there and you haven't followed me—"

Ben gave him a push, and Luke fell out into the direct sight of anyone in the conference room. He sprinted for the landing pad, and then came to a halt in front of the boarding ramp. He glanced back and found Ben was right behind him.

"Did anyone see us?" Ben asked, nervously.

"No," Luke said. "I'd have heard about it by now."

They turned around to behold the bounty hunter's ship.

"Wow!" Luke said. He started forward, but Ben pulled him back.

"Luke, it's probably booby trapped!"

"If he cared that much, he wouldn't have left it unlocked. Come on, just a quick look around."

Luke crept up into the dark interior and found himself flat up against a ladder. He looked up. "I guess that's the way to the cockpit."

"I think I found the cargo hold."

Luke walked towards Ben's voice, grinning at the fact that Ben had already explored further than him. The ship was very compact, but the cargo hold was spacious enough to hold a stack of crates. There were several here at the moment.

"What do you think is in these?" Luke asked, running his fingers across the nearest one. He jumped when he heard a hiss and looked around to see Ben had opened a storage compartment.

"Wow!" Ben said. "An arsenal!"

Luke moved over and his jaw fell open. There was every kind of weapon imaginable—some unimaginable.

Ben lost interest, and shifted past him to move further into the ship.

Luke was still amazed at the weapons. He was almost scared to breathe in case one of those huge blasters went off.

"Hey, Luke!" Ben called, sounding amused. "You have to see this."

Luke reluctantly closed the weapons locker, and followed Ben. "What?"

"In here!"

"In where?"

He stepped up beside Ben, and saw something which looked like an empty square cupboard. Luke stepped inside, looking around.

"There's nothing in here."

Something rattled behind him, and he whirled around to find himself looking at Ben through a wall of bars. Ben was doubled up against the wall, shaking with laughter.

"Hey!" Luke said, gripping the bars and trying to shift them back.

Ben only laughed harder, causing Luke to frown in annoyance. "You are dead!"

He stopped rattling the bars for a moment, suddenly getting an odd premonition. Someone was coming.

"Ben ..." he said, suddenly serious.

Ben smirked. "What?"

"I think ... I think he's coming back."

His words were followed by the sound of loud footsteps drifting in from the distant hatch. The smile quickly faded from Ben's face, and his eyes grew wide. He jumped to his feet and ran.

"No! Ben!" Luke said, panicking as he saw his friend leave. "Let me out!"

There was only silence, and Luke realized Ben had gone. He struggled to open the cage door one last time, before giving up in frustration. His friend had left him here to be discovered by some crazy person with weapons and cages in his ship. Boy, when his father found out about this ...

The thought made him feel sick. He sunk down against the wall and rested his chin on his knees. This place was cold and dark, and it stunk like the last occupant had been a garbage pit racer.

After a few seconds had passed, Luke heard approaching footsteps.

 _This is it_ , he thought. _Better start preparing an explanation!_

But the person that came into view wasn't some scary bounty hunter, but a nervous looking Ben.

"I thought you left!" Luke said, jumping to his feet in surprise.

"Are you kidding? I just went to hide behind those crates," Ben explained. "I saw him! He came in and climbed up the ladder to the cockpit. If we go now, we can get out without being seen."

"Let me out, then!" Luke said, gripping the bars. He could feel his heart beating quickly.

"I'm trying," Ben said, pushing the buttons.

"Then why isn't anything happening?" Luke asked, struggling not to yell.

"Hang on, maybe it's this one," Ben said, pulling a lever.

Another row of bars slid into place, and Luke jumped back to avoid being squashed.

"No, that's not it," Ben said, pulling it back.

The second barrier didn't retract.

"Come on!" Luke said. "Hurry!"

The ship suddenly began to rumble, indicating the main engines were warming up.

"Ah, he's taking off!" Ben said, pushing buttons one after the other.

"Look, just run for it!" Luke said. "Get yourself out!"

"No! I'll get it, just—"

There was a hissing sound as the boarding ramp retracted.

Luke buried his head in his arms as he realized it was too late.

"Wait," Ben said, still concentrating on the controls. He pushed the lever down, and then leaned his elbow on two buttons. Both doors slid open, and Luke ran forward gratefully.

But before he could reach Ben, he was thrown back against the far wall of the cell. The ship was rising into the air. Then it began to rotate, and they both fell over. Luke rolled around, and then lunged forward to steady himself against the doorframe. Ben had braced himself in a corner.

They didn't say anything for a good two minutes, as the momentum of the ship continued to throw them in one direction, and then another. Finally, the gravity compensators kicked in, and Luke felt steady enough to stand up.

"We must be in space," Ben whispered. He looked like he was about to throw up.

"Don't worry," Luke insisted.

"What do you mean _don't worry_?" Ben said, standing up. "We're on a one way journey to the other side of the galaxy! I'm going to go up there and tell him to take us back."

"No, you can't!" Luke said. "He's a bounty hunter! Listen, I've got a plan. He'll have to stop sometime, somewhere. We'll hide down here until he does, and then sneak off the ship."

"What do we do then?" Ben asked.

"No problem," Luke said. "We'll catch a transport back to Coruscant. No one will find out about any of this."

Ben raised a skeptical eyebrow.

* * *

It was nearly an hour after Fett had departed when Vader suddenly remembered Luke. He had been planning to go and let the boy out of his room straight away, but between military updates and endless comlink calls, it had slipped his mind. Luke was going to be in a foul mood when he arrived, but that couldn't be helped. If he had just accepted the amusement park tickets instead of arguing, this wouldn't have been necessary.

When he arrived in their personal living area, he was relieved to see the stormtroopers still guarding Luke's bedroom. They straightened up as he approached, and he paused beside the one on the left.

"Were there any problems?"

"No, sir."

"Good."

Vader pressed the door release, and the doors slid open. He braced himself as he entered the room, knowing it was going to take some very careful words to smooth things over between him and his son. He expected to be met with some loud music or blaring holovid, but the room was pin-drop quiet. He glanced around, not seeing Luke anywhere. As soon as he stretched out with the Force, he knew for certain that Luke was no longer in the palace.

He returned to the corridor, wondering if he should even bother to ask the troopers for some kind of explanation.

"Luke is not in his bedroom," Vader said, finally. "Where is he?"

The troopers glanced at each other, and the one on the right spoke.

"He was there earlier, sir."

"Did you leave your post?"

"Only for a moment! But it wasn't long enough for him to—"

"Clearly, it was," Vader interrupted. "You are fortunate it was only Luke. If this was a real prisoner, I would execute both of you for such incompetence."

Vader didn't bother to listen to their apologies. He had more important work to see to. Luke was probably at his friend's apartment, or at the local park. When he came home, they would have to have another talk about exploiting stormtroopers.

* * *

Two hours into hyperspace, even Luke was starting to wonder if they were doomed. They were cramped in the cargo hold, and every rumble or click they heard made them jump. They both knew the bounty hunter could decide to come down here at any moment.

"Why does your father need a bounty hunter anyway?" Ben asked.

"I don't know," Luke said, tapping his fingers against one of the crates. "I doubt he would tell me if I asked."

The lid of the crate sprung open, revealing glittering contents. Luke leaned closer, and saw the entire thing was filled with precious jewels.

"He's _rich_ ," Ben observed.

"Maybe he's going to a banking world to cash all this," Luke suggested. "That's when we'll get off."

"I don't think he's going to stop, Luke," Ben said, sounding irritable. "Besides, if he did go to a bank, he'd come down here to pick up these crates and then he'd find us."

"You could be a little more optimistic."

"Yeah. Optimistic. When we're on a one way trip to the other side of the galaxy with a professional killer!" Ben hit the wall in frustration. "Why did I have to listen to you and your crazy ideas?!"

"Me? I wasn't the one who locked me in that cell!" Luke countered. "If you hadn't done that, we both could have left the ship before he even took off."

"If you hadn't been so desperate to take a look in the first place, we wouldn't even be here," Ben said. "Stars, I'm going to be in so much trouble if my Dad finds out about this."

"Your Dad? Is that all you're worried about?" Luke said. "Have you seen _my_ father by any chance?!"

"Is that supposed to make me feel better!?"

Luke was about to reply, when a clicking noise echoed in the adjacent tunnel. Both of them jumped up and dived behind the crates.

"Now look, he's heard you!" Ben whispered.

"Shut up!"

They pressed themselves flat against the deck plates, hardly daring to breathe. After a minute had passed, with no further sounds, Luke glanced over the crates. There was nothing but an empty tunnel past the cargo hold.

"False alarm," Luke said, standing up.

Ben stood up beside him, somewhat more cautiously.

"Are you sure?" Ben said, peering into the darkness.

"Of course." Luke started to step over the crates, but Ben pulled him back.

Luke glanced up in annoyance, and found himself looking straight into a blaster barrel.

"AHH!"

The person on the other end of the weapon stepped out of the shadows. There was no mistaking him for anything except a bounty hunter. He was completely hidden behind a t-visored mask and armored shell. Various braids and scalps hung off him, trophies of past kills.

"Don't shoot us!" Ben said, putting up his hands. Luke followed suit.

The bounty hunter didn't lower his blaster.

"Who are you?!"

His voice was filtered through the helmet, giving it an electronic edge.

Luke shared a look with Ben.

"Um, I'm B-Ben," Ben mumbled. His hands were shaking in the air.

"And you?" the hunter said, gesturing at Luke with his blaster.

"Luke."

"How did you get here?"

"It was an accident," Luke said, quickly.

"A really big accident," Ben added.

"If you'll just let us off, we'll be right on our way," Luke said.

"Any fuel station will be fine," Ben said. "We need to catch a ride back to Coruscant."

At this point, the bounty hunter had lowered his blaster slightly, seeming to realize they were harmless. "You boarded my ship on Coruscant? Where?"

Ben nodded immediately, dropping his hands. "Luke is Lord Vader's son."

"Ben!" Luke glanced at his friend in annoyance. That information was on a need-to-know basis.

"His _what_?" The helmet turned back to Luke. "Since when did Lord Vader have a son?"

"Since about fourteen years ago," Luke said, resigned.

"Hmm. If you're telling the truth, then be thankful that you are his son," the bounty hunter said. "If you had been anyone else I might have sold you both to the Hutts as slaves."

"You mean you'll let us go?" Luke asked.

The bounty hunter finally holstered his blaster and inclined his helmet in the direction of the cockpit. "Come with me."

* * *

Vader was catching up on some lightsaber practice when he saw an assistant enter the room. The officer waited until he had finished off his current droid opponent, and then came forward to report.

"Sir, I apologize for interrupting you. Ben's father called half an hour ago, wondering if Ben was here, as he hasn't been able to get any response from Ben's comlink. I have been unable to make contact with Luke, either."

Vader glanced at the chrono. It was getting on in the afternoon, but still a fair while until Luke's curfew.

"Tell him to check the local entertainment facilities," Vader said, moving over to activate another droid. His earlier disagreement with Luke explained why he didn't have his comlink switched on, but that was none of the officer's business.

"Yes, sir."

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

On the way up the cockpit ladder, Luke tried to make conversation.

"I like your ship."

There was no reply. At the top, their host gestured at the passenger seat. Seeing as there were two of them, and only one seat, Ben sat cross-legged on the top, while Luke took the floor in front. The streaking beams of light out the window indicated they were still in hyperspace.

The bounty hunter sat down in the pilot's seat and started pressing buttons.

"What's your name?" Luke asked, deciding to make another attempt.

The hunter didn't spare him a glance. He pulled a lever, and the ship shuddered.

"Boba Fett," he said, finally.

"Wow," Ben said. "I've heard of you. Is it true you captured Bikayus, the Wookiee pirate?"

"A few hours ago you were saying he was a crazy murderer," Luke said.

"I never said that."

"Yes, you did."

"Shut up," Fett said, losing his cool. "Brace yourselves."

They were coming out of hyperspace. Luke gripped the seat tightly, feeling the deceleration pushing against his body. This ship's gravity compensators really needed fine-tuning, but he doubted Fett would let him start making repairs. Once the ship had reverted to sub-light, he rose up on his knees to take a look out the window. They were seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

"Is there a spaceport around here?" Luke asked. "Where you can drop us off?"

"I'm not dropping you at a spaceport, kid. Your father would not be impressed."

"So," Ben said, carefully. "What are you going to do?"

"First," he said, pressing some buttons. "I'm going to call his Sith-Lordship and tell him where his son and his son's sidekick are."

"What?!" Luke said. "No, you can't!"

Fett turned to regard him through his t-visored helmet. "Why?"

"Because he'll kill me!" Luke said. "Please, if you just let us off, he won't find out this even happened!"

"What if he's looking for you right now?"

"He won't be," Luke said. "There's still time before my curfew."

"We're two and a half hours from Coruscant," Fett said. "Do you think he won't be looking for you by then?"

Luke looked aside, knowing the hunter had a point.

"I'll figure out some story," he said. "I'll say we got lost or something."

"I'm going to lose five hours of time and fuel taking you back to Coruscant," Fett said. "Who's going to pay for it, if not your father?"

"You can afford it," Ben said. "We saw all your jewels in the cargo hold."

"This isn't a charity."

"Pleeeeeease!" Luke said.

"Oh, that's just pathetic." Fett was starting to enter the comlink frequency into the computer.

"Don't you remember what it's like to be young?" Ben suggested.

Fett paused and turned back to them.

"When I was your age, I was surviving on my own. I didn't have anyone to lecture me if I did something wrong. There was no one to worry about me if I was in danger, or if I didn't come home on time. Maybe you should start appreciating your parents instead of causing them grief."

Luke fell silent, unable to think of a reply.

* * *

Vader was on his final dueling droid when the assistant returned. He used the Force to disable the droid temporarily, and turned to the officer in annoyance.

"What now?"

"Sir, Boba Fett wishes to speak with you. He says it's important." The lieutenant was holding a holo-projector.

Vader let out a weary breath. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. He strode across the room, and switched off the lightsaber. An image of Fett appeared as he accepted the projector, clearly in the cockpit of his ship.

"What is it?" Vader asked.

"Lord Vader. Are you missing something, by any chance?"

"Yes," Vader said. "My patience. So I suggest you get to the point quickly."

"I picked up a couple of stowaways while I was meeting with you."

"Stowaways?" Vader said, not comprehending.

"A couple of boys. Luke and Ben. Do you know them?"

Vader breathed for a few cycles, letting the hunter's words sink in. He couldn't even bring himself to actually feel surprised that his son had done something so completely and utterly stupid. He must be hours away by now ... stars, he could have been hurt!

"I am familiar with them," Vader said, finally.

"We're on our way back right now," Fett explained. "Should be a couple of hours away. That is ... if you actually want these kids back? Seems like one of them might be more trouble than he's worth."

"That depends on what compensation you will require for your inconvenience, hunter," Vader said, dryly.

"I'll leave that to your generosity."

Fett cut the call, leaving Vader staring at a blank projector. He looked up, meeting the lieutenant's gaze. He wisely said nothing.

"Contact Ben's father," Vader said, finally. "I suppose he will have to know about this. Tell him Fett should return in two hours, and he is welcome to come to the hangar bay to pick Ben up."

"I will do so immediately, sir."

The assistant left him alone, and Vader turned back to his immobile dueling droid. He could switch it back on, but why bother when he could chop it into pieces right where it stood. The latter felt strangely satisfying.

* * *

"So how angry did he seem?" Luke asked, when Fett turned off the comlink.

"You heard him."

"Yes, but I have to see him to know how angry he is," Luke said. "Was he doing that thing where he clenches his fingers into fists?" Luke demonstrated.

"I didn't notice."

"Okay, did he have his head on _this_ angle?" Luke tilted his head forward.

Fett didn't even look. Luke glanced up at Ben, who was dozing against the seat. They had reentered hyperspace, and had a good two hours before reaching Coruscant.

Luke tried to rest, but he couldn't relax with the thought of what awaited him back home.

"So how long have you been a bounty hunter?" Luke asked.

"Do you ever stop talking?"

Luke took the hint. He glanced around for something to do, and then spied a control panel. He was just reaching up to finger the buttons, when Fett leaned over and grabbed his wrist.

"If you touch anything, I'll lock you up in the cargo hold."

"What's that?" Luke said, pointing at a device attached to the underside of Fett's arm.

He quickly released Luke's wrist. "Don't touch it. Just sit still and shut up."

Luke rested his head against the front of the seat, deciding to try sleeping like Ben. It was hard, when the ship was full of noises. There was the dull hum of the engines and the beeps and clicks of the readouts. The bounty hunter's armor made clicking noises as he shifted in his seat, as if there were many hidden gadgets. Luke opened his eyes, trying to see if he could spot anything interesting.

"Why did my father want to see you?" Luke asked, finally. He'd been silent for a few minutes—that was enough.

Fett glanced at him. "To see if I'd be willing to sell you on the blackmarket."

"Sure," Luke said, raising a disbelieving eyebrow. "I'm not naive. I know what a bounty hunter does."

Luke wondered if his father wanted someone killed or just captured. He was about to ask, but then he thought better of it. Sometimes it was better not to know when it came to his father.

"How long have you known my father?"

"Long time." Fett leaned back, folding his arms behind his helmet. "Used to bump into him when he was hunting down Jedi. Those were the days. I wish there were still Jedi around to hunt."

"He was once a Jedi," Luke pointed out. "But he never talks about anything before he became a Sith."

"If I was once a Jedi, I wouldn't want to talk about it, either," Fett said, shortly.

He sounded pretty bitter. Luke decided to leave the subject alone.

* * *

Despite their sons' friendship, Vader had never had an opportunity to meet Ben's father. He had probably passed him hundreds of times in the hallways and the throne room, but that was not the time or the place to strike up a conversation.

He had often wondered how the man felt about his son's friendship with Luke. This was far from the first time Luke had led himself and his friend into a dangerous situation. If Luke became acquainted with someone who was always leading him astray, Vader doubted he would have any patience for it. But from what Luke had said, Ben's father was nothing but kind to him. Even before he had known of his heritage.

By Vader's estimate, there wasn't long to go before Fett should arrive. He was standing in the hangar bay conference room, staring through the viewing windows and waiting for any sense of his son's arrival. Threepio entered the room and stood to one side of the door.

"Captain Jarnet is here, sir."

Ben's father entered the room, and the droid left them alone. Vader turned to regard his guest. He'd obviously come straight from a duty shift, as he was still dressed in his guard uniform, although his helmet was resting under his arm. Vader could see a few physical similarities between him and Ben, not surprisingly.

"Sir," he said, in greeting. "Has there been any further news?"

"Not since I received the initial call," Vader said, sensing the man's parental worry. "I do trust this bounty hunter to return the boys safely. It is not in his best interests to displease me."

"It's fortunate for Ben that he is in Luke's company," his guest replied, putting his helmet on the table.

"If he wasn't, I doubt he would ever have considered boarding the ship in the first place," Vader said. "I fully accept that this incident is entirely Luke's fault.."

"Luke has a very adventurous spirit," Ben's father offered.

"That is an overly optimistic way of describing it," Vader said, unable to keep the weariness from his voice. "He is reckless."

"His heart is in the right place," Ben's father continued, grasping the back of a chair. "He needs someone level-headed to keep him from going too far. Instead, Ben encourages him. I keep telling him to start taking some responsibility, but ... it's just so hard to make them listen at this age."

"It is impossible, in Luke's case. He takes every attempt I make to provide some guidance as a personal insult."

Ben's father shook his head. "And to think this summer break isn't even half over. At times like this, I wish I had enrolled Ben in military camp and taken an extended vacation."

"Military camp?" Vader repeated, his interest piqued.

"The junior cadet academy runs the camp every year," he explained. "Unfortunately, they closed enrollments two weeks ago."

Vader wondered why he had never spoken to this man before. He was obviously some kind of master in the realm of parenting. He would have to be, to think of such a perfect solution to all his problems. Luke would be in a supervised environment. There would be plenty for him to learn and do, and he would be with lots of people his own age. No more accidents. No more embarrassing incidents such as this.

"I will ask them to reopen them," Vader said, thinking quickly.

"Well, sir, if you have any luck convincing Luke to go, please tell me your secret. Ben hears the word 'military' and chains himself to his bedpost."

"Luke will not require convincing," Vader said, walking towards the door. He had some arrangements to make. "I will return shortly."

* * *

Coruscant loomed large in the ship _'s_ viewport when Ben finally woke up. He took one look at the planet and slumped back against the seat.

"Can't we go back into hyperspace again?"

"Don't worry," Luke said, looking up and rubbing his eyes. "It won't be so bad. It'll be me he'll be angry with, not you."

"What if he told my father about this?"

"Then I'll apologize to him and say it was all my fault," Luke said. "That should help. Actually, that's my entire plan. We leave the ship ... then I'll start groveling for forgiveness."

"Good plan. I'll help you."

"You want some advice?" Fett said, flying the ship down into the buildings.

Luke looked up, eagerly.

"Agree with everything they say. If they say you're crazy, just say 'I know'. If they ask you what you were thinking, say you weren't thinking. You were just being stupid. Tell them what they want to hear."

"If I tried that on my father, he'd tell me to stop patronizing him," Ben said.

"It might work," Luke said, thinking carefully. "It's just a matter of sounding like you really mean it ..."

"Maybe they'll be so happy to see you back, safe and sound, they won't be angry at all."

Both Luke and Ben started laughing.

* * *

Vader was waiting with Captain Jarnet in the ship hangar, when _Slave I_ came in to land. Relief was his first reaction, reflected in the man beside him.

"I will take Ben home immediately, sir," he said. "Unless you would like to speak with him first."

Vader almost smiled at the idea. Ben just about fainted when he spoke to him under normal circumstances.

"No, it would be best if I spoke with Luke alone," Vader said. "We have much to discuss."

The boarding ramp extended, and Vader saw Fett was leaving the ship unaccompanied. For a brief, horrible second he thought something had happened. But no—Luke and Ben were there. They were just taking their time.

When they finally made it to the hangar bay floor, Ben's father went over immediately, and grabbed Ben in an embrace. Luke hovered to one side, awkwardly. Vader looked at him, but his son wouldn't meet his gaze. He appeared none the worse for wear, at least.

Vader turned to Fett.

"I take it you were not talked to death on your journey back."

"I have endured worse."

Ben's father approached them, having one arm firmly around his son's shoulders, preventing him from going anywhere, lest he have any ideas.

"Thank you for bringing my son back," he said to Fett. "I'm sorry for your inconvenience."

The hunter nodded once. Ben's father turned to Vader.

"I'll take my son home now, sir."

Vader nodded. As Captain Jarnet walked away, Luke ran to catch up with them. Vader could only hope he was offering some apologies. He turned back to Fett once they were alone.

"You also have my gratitude," Vader said. "Send me an invoice for the costs you incurred."

Fett waved a hand, walking back to his ship.

"Don't worry about it."

* * *

Luke had withdrawn to his closet after saying goodbye to Ben. His friend's father hadn't seemed too angry. Far less than he expected his own father to be. Hence the closet. Not that he really thought he could hide from his father, due to the ever-annoying Force powers, but at least being here meant he didn't have to resist the urge to roll his eyes while receiving the inevitable lecture.

It wasn't long before he heard the approaching footsteps. When he heard the bedroom doors hiss open, he shuffled back a bit further. Maybe he should take Fett's advice and just agree with absolutely everything ...

He heard his father walk over to stand in front of the closet, and then the door slid back into the wall. Normally a rush of light would fill the small space, but his father blocked out the overhead lights, almost giving the impression the door was still closed.

"Luke?! What are you doing?"

"Uh ... meditating?" Luke suggested.

"Come here!"

"Are you sure you don't need to calm down first?" Luke asked. "Because I can wait."

"If you are not standing in front of me in five seconds, I will—"

"Drag me out using the Force," Luke sighed as he shuffled forward. When he came out into the light, his father reached out to pull him closer, holding him by the shoulders.

"I am glad to have you back in one piece," he said. "But if you are expecting a hug, you will be disappointed."

"Don't worry," Luke mumbled. "I wasn't expecting one."

His father then gestured at the bed. "Sit down."

Luke sighed as he walked over to oblige. He didn't even need to look up to know his father had started pacing. Any second now he was going to start asking him questions in his 'interrogation' voice.

"Why did you board his ship?"

 _Why does he do this?_ Luke thought. _I've heard this so many times, I can lecture myself._

"Because he's a bounty hunter," Luke explained out loud. "I wanted to see what was inside. Besides, if you hadn't tried to hide him from me, I wouldn't have been so curious."

"I knew this would be my fault at some point," his father said, stopping mid-pace to point at him. "Just like hover-boarding in the hallway was my fault because I wouldn't let you hover-board in the hangar."

"It was an accident," Luke said. "I didn't know he was going to come back and take off."

"In the same way you didn't know those fuel cartridges would explode."

"Must you keep dredging up the past?" Luke asked.

"We are talking about three days ago, Son. We cannot consider this incident without also considering the reckless and irresponsible way you have behaved for the last two weeks."

Luke rolled his eyes.

That turned out to be a bad idea, as his father stopped pacing and paused in front of him.

"I suggest you wipe that expression off your face and start paying attention, young one."

Luke felt suddenly angry. As if this lecture wasn't bad enough, being addressed like a naughty child was the final straw.

"You're such a hypocrite," Luke mumbled.

"This is not the time to insult me!"

"Well it's true," Luke said, standing up. It didn't make much difference in terms of their height variation, but at least if he was on his feet he could make a quick getaway. "You're paying a bounty hunter to kill someone, yet you harp on at me about boarding his ship. You're always acting like I'm so terrible, I'm so reckless ... well that's nothing compared to what you get up to."

"What I get up to," his father repeated. "You must be referring to my life's work to provide you and everyone else with a safe, secure, peaceful galaxy to live in. How good to know you appreciate it."

Luke was silent, subdued.

"However you may feel about my activities," his father continued, "they are not your responsibility. However, _you_ are _my_ responsibility. It is my job, as your father, to guide you to adulthood. I want you to join me in ruling the Empire one day. If this reckless behavior continues, you may not even reach your twentieth birthday."

"I have heard this before," Luke sighed.

There was a moment of silence, and then his father spoke in a quieter tone.

"Son, you are a natural leader. Something you have inherited from your mother and me. You should be using that ability for the betterment of the galaxy. Instead you lead your friend into danger without a second thought."

"How many times do I have to say that it was an accident?" Luke said, his voice breaking. His father's words hurt. He did feel terrible about dragging Ben into this.

"There have been too many accidents. This cannot continue." His father paused for a moment. "Staying here is clearly not providing you with enough mental stimulation. I have made some other arrangements."

"Other arrangements?" Luke said, confused.

"The Imperial cadet academy offers a summer program on the sixth moon of Kawai. You can stay there. You will be with other young people, and you can learn personal discipline and valuable practical skills."

"You're kidding," Luke said, flatly.

"No. You are leaving tomorrow—I will expect you to be packed."

"You're going to kick me out?!" Luke said, feeling close to tears.

"If you wish to wallow in self-pity and convince yourself that I am doing this to spite you, be my guest. But if you are wise, you will acknowledge the truth. I am doing this because I believe it will help you."

"I don't need any _help_."

"What do you need, then? I am open to your input."

"I want to stay here," Luke said.

"I asked what you needed, not what you wanted."

"Can't you give me another chance?" Luke said, suddenly. "Please! I wouldn't even have left my room if I'd known you were going to send me off to boringville."

"I shudder to think what 'accident' you will have next if I give you another chance."

"There won't be any more."

"You assured me of that two days ago."

"Come on ... _please_?"

His father didn't reply. He simply stared at him with his deep, blank gaze. It made Luke angry, and he turned away and walked off toward the refresher.

"Fine! I don't care! I'll leave tomorrow. At least I won't have to put up with you and your hypocritical lectures!"

With that, he shut and locked the door.

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

Luke hadn't planned on getting out of bed the next morning. Only when the door-comm had been beeping incessantly for a good five minutes did he finally drag his head from the pillow. He knew it wasn't his father. In the rare instance that his Sith Lordship actually bothered to use the comm, he would only use it once and then come barging on in.

He opened the doors and found Lev waiting on the other side.

"Good morning, Luke. Do you need any help packing?"

"He sent you to help me pack?" Luke asked, folding his arms.

"No. He sent me to tell you that you're leaving in thirty minutes whether you are ready or not. He also told me to organize stormtroopers to drag you down to the hangar bay, if necessary."

Luke sighed heavily, and then returned to his bed. He lay down flat on his stomach and dragged the pillow over his head. Lev followed him, and pulled up the blinds on the window, flooding the room with light.

"Is there a bag you can take?" Lev asked.

Luke half-heartedly pointed in the direction of the closet. He heard Lev retrieving it and walking over to his dresser.

"Which one is your underwear drawer?"

Luke groaned and quickly stood up. "Forget it, I'll do it." He banged around the room, filling the bag with spare clothes and refresher items, and finally with a few personal objects from his bedside table. When he was done, he tossed the bag aside and sat down on his bed.

"Are you feeling all right?" Lev asked, joining him.

Luke didn't reply.

"It won't be as bad as you think," Lev said. "You'll enjoy it once you're there. I loved summer camp when I was your age. We used to go swimming, and learn tracking skills, and ... I remember this one night where we—"

"It's not fair," Luke said, quietly. "I can't believe he's doing this to me."

Lev smiled. "I hate to say it, Luke, but you really had this coming. Commander Julius and Hicks had a bet going on that—"

"So you're on _his_ side?" Luke said, annoyed. "I don't believe it!"

"I'm not on anybody's side. But I do understand why your father thinks this is a good idea."

"All I did was take a look around a bounty hunter's ship," Luke said. "It was an accident! I didn't know he was going to take off while Ben and I were still aboard."

"And there was that incident with that admiral's speeder."

"I didn't know it was his!"

"And remember when you got stuck on the roof?"

"I _wasn't_ stuck ... I kept telling him I could have climbed down without any help. But he never listens! Besides, I said I was sorry for all those things. Where's the forgiveness?"

"Your father is not well known for his forgiveness. But I don't think he's angry with you. He just feels you could use a break from Coruscant. You need to go where your adventurous streak can flourish in a supervised environment."

"At _military_ camp?! There'll be ten thousand rules. I'll have to wear some silly uniform. I'm supposed to be on vacation!" Luke buried his head in his hands. Several moments passed in silence, before he spoke again. "Do you think he'll let me come home if I'm really miserable there?"

"Give him a few days." Lev stood up. "The bounty hunter incident will fade from his mind. Maybe get down on your knees and grovel a bit ... you can say I have already offered to come and pick you up if it would help. Besides, you'll have the whole journey to try and talk him out of it."

"I can hardly wait," Luke sighed.

* * *

There was an awkward silence in the cockpit, which had been hanging in the air ever since they'd left Coruscant. Saying goodbye to Artoo and Threepio had only put Luke in a worse mood, and not even the thrill of the hyperspace jump could stir him out of the dumps. He rested his chin on his arms and leaned forward to stare out the window.

Soon he realized he had no idea how long this journey would take. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Where are we going again?"

His father stirred slightly, as if he'd been thinking deeply about something else.

"The sixth moon of Kawai," he said, eventually. "We will be there in about an hour."

"So you're going to dump me on some deserted moon?"

His father turned and gave him a look with a slightly creepy feel. "Don't tempt me."

Luke frowned harder, and indulged in angry thoughts about his father. He didn't even act like his father ... a proper father wouldn't do this. "I wish I was still living with my aunt and uncle," Luke said, just loud enough for his father to hear.

There was no reply.

"They would never have made me leave," Luke said, quieter.

His father reached up to tune in a monitor to a HoloNet news channel. It started blaring about some pirate incident along a shipping route.

Luke paused for a moment, and then added, "I wonder what my mother would think of this."

His father finally snapped. " _Luke!_ "

Luke leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "What?"

His father started to reach over to grab him, but Luke hastily stood up so the co-pilot's seat was between himself and his father. He eyed his father warily, but he didn't stand up. Instead, he turned back to the controls.

"Your puerile attempts to bait me are only further convincing me of the necessity of this. I have already explained to you why I think this is best for you. If you wish to resent me, that is your prerogative, but you will do it elsewhere. Go and wait in the passenger lounge."

"I was going there anyway," Luke said. "I'm not speaking to you."

"If only," his father said, turning up the volume on the HoloNet news.

Luke made a noise of frustration as he walked off. He was running out of names to call his father under his breath.

* * *

Vader didn't bother to call Luke when they landed. It was quite possible he'd have to physically drag Luke off the ship, but before that display he'd prefer to discuss the situation with the waiting officer. The man's expression was a mixture of fear and awe as Vader walked down the boarding ramp and came to a halt in front of him.

"Welcome to Kawai VI, Lord Vader," the officer said, offering a military bow. "I am Commander Hayge, overseer of the young cadet training camp."

"Commander," Vader said. "I am entrusting you with someone of infinite value to me. I will return in four weeks to collect him. If, at that time, he is damaged in any way, or worse— _missing_ , I will personally execute every officer responsible for watching him. Starting with you. Am I clear?"

The commander had an expression as if he heard the same speech on a daily basis. "Your son will be in professional hands, I assure you, sir."

"You have my permission to treat him as you do any other child in your care. Especially in matters of discipline." Vader considered it for a moment, wondering if he should enquire as to how they dealt with wayward cadets before resigning Luke to that fate. Perhaps it was better that he didn't know, lest he lose his resolve.

"Within reason," Vader added, finally.

"Sir, I am sure your son will be a pleasure to have among us," the commander said, sounding like he was trying to reassure him without making it obvious. "But should there be any problem, I will consult with you. We have full-range communication equipment at the camp, and can be reached at any time, day or night."

"Very well."

There was a noise at the top of the ramp, and Vader glanced up to find Luke emerging, dragging his luggage behind him.

"This is my son," he said, turning back to the commander, who was staring at Luke in surprise. He was obviously not quite what he expected. "His name is Luke Skywalker. From now until I return, he is in your hands."

"Yes, sir."

Luke stepped off the side of the ramp and turned away. Vader was tempted just to leave without saying goodbye, but he didn't want Luke thinking he didn't care. His son may be in a foul mood at the moment, but he might start to feel homesick tonight. The commander had walked a short distance away, obviously sensing they might need a moment of privacy.

Vader reached out to touch Luke's shoulder, but his hand was shrugged off immediately.

"Goodbye, Son."

Luke glanced at him with a sour expression, and again looked away.

"I will see you in four weeks time."

Luke mumbled something unintelligible. It almost sounded like goodbye, but it could just as easily have been another mumbled insult. Vader chose to believe the former. He didn't look back as he entered the ship.

* * *

The first thing Luke noticed about this strange moon was the air. It smelled so clean and fresh, it was a pleasure to breathe it. The landing pad he was standing on rose above a forest that stretched as far as he could see. The only sounds were gentle bird calls, and the distant trickle of running water.

He looked up at the officer his father had left him with, and could tell instantly that he didn't like him. The man gave him a look that said something like 'not another spoiled Coruscant brat'. Luke gave him a look that he hoped said 'not another snobby Imperial officer'.

Finally, the officer looked aside.

"Follow me, Cadet Skywalker. I'll take you to our campsite."

"Cadet?" Luke enquired.

"Yes. While you are staying with us, you will temporarily assume the rank of cadet."

"Oh ... what rank are you?"

"Commander. Commander Hayge"

"Do I have to wear a uniform?"

"Yes. I have everything you'll need in the speeder."

They had walked across the landing pad, and out the other side, where a speeder sat waiting. It was a standard Imperial issue speeder, but appeared adapted for rough terrain use. Sure enough, there was a zipped up bag in the back seat. Once Luke had climbed in, he leaned over to see what was inside it. Several light-gray colored uniforms, a sleeping bag, a heating lamp, a high voltage flashlight, a utility belt ...

"Is this all for me?"

"Yes. Just some basic supplies you'll need."

Luke sat forward again, interested to see where they were going now. The speeder rose above the pad, and accelerated towards the horizon.

Nothing was said for a long while, and Luke rested his head against the window, thinking about what lay ahead. Four weeks without his droids and ships to tinker with ... four weeks without his holovid and gamebox. This was the worst vacation ever.

"So," the commander said, eventually, "your father must have big plans for your future."

Luke didn't reply. They were flying over some forest-covered hills, which spread out in all directions.

"Many of our cadets go on to prestigious officer training academies. Is that your eventual goal, too?"

"My goal is to survive this stupid camp and go back home as soon as possible," Luke said, shortly.

"You have no interest in joining the military?"

"If you're wondering why my father left me here, it's because he can't tell the difference between an accident and deliberately causing havoc," Luke explained.

"I think I understand."

Luke was grateful he didn't pry further. Maybe he wasn't so bad ... he hadn't insisted he call him sir. Not yet, anyway.

"So what are your own plans for your life?" the commander enquired.

Luke sighed. "I don't have any."

"Really? You're the first cadet I've had here who has not."

Luke frowned. "My father, who I've only known for two years is ... well, you know who he is. The Emperor would prefer it if I didn't exist, and my father has been acting the same way since yesterday. I don't want to think about what's going to happen in the future. I take life one day at a time."

The commander glanced at him, and this time there was a different expression in his eyes. It almost seemed like ... pity.

"It sounds like you find Coruscant quite stressful."

Luke nodded, resting his head on his hand.

"Perhaps you should think of this as an opportunity. Immersing oneself in nature is a great way to refresh the spirit."

The speeder rose up over a ridge, and the campsite appeared in the distance. It was near a sparkling blue lake, and a creek ran through the middle. Tents were arranged haphazardly about, and Luke could see cadets kicking a ball around a nearby field. It was like a park on Coruscant, except a hundred times larger.

"It is pretty," Luke admitted. So different from Tatooine.

The commander brought the speeder down to land next to another line of parked speeders, at the top end of the campsite, next to the administrative buildings.

"Lights out at twenty-two-hundred, rise and shine by oh-seven-hundred at the latest. During free time, you can roam as long as the flag is still within sight." The commander gestured over at a flagpole. Luke climbed out of a speeder, and tilted his head up until he saw a waving Imperial flag. It was black with a white Imperial logo.

"Please bring the bag, and I'll find you a tent-mate," the commander said, looking around.

Luke picked up his luggage, and followed the commander around the front side of the administration building. A cadet was walking down the stairs, looking dejected. His hands were in his pockets, and he was staring at the ground. He snapped to attention when the commander called his name.

"Cadet Veers."

"Yes, sir?"

"You are currently occupying a tent by yourself, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

The commander gestured towards Luke. "This is Luke Skywalker—he's just come to join us. He'll be your new tent-mate. Show him where everything is, and introduce him to the others. He'll be joining your team."

The other cadet saluted. "Yes, sir."

The commander nodded goodbye to Luke, and then strode off in the direction of one of the buildings. Luke looked to his new companion, who glanced at him briefly, and then looked away.

"I'll show you where the tent is," he said, in a polite, yet distant tone.

"Okay," Luke said. "Thanks, uh ...?"

"Call me Zev."

Zev led him across the grass toward a bridge, which crossed the creek that ran through the center of the camping ground. There were a few other cadets roaming around, and they stared at Luke with interest. Zev eventually stopped beside a tent that was in the shade of a sprawling tree, and slightly set apart from the others. He unzipped the front and ducked down to enter inside.

"I'll just shift all my things to one side," he called. "Won't be a second."

"Sorry to invade your space," Luke said, also ducking inside. He expected to see clothes and bedding spread everywhere, but all Zev's belongings were folded and stacked in neat little piles.

"No problem. The only reason I was by myself was because there was an odd number of cadets this year."

Luke opened the bag the commander had given him, and spread out the sleeping bag over his half of the tent. Despite his anger over being here, sleeping in a tent would be an interesting novelty. It was something he and Biggs had wanted to do many a time on Tatooine, but the adults would never allow it.

"Do you want to go for a tour now?" Zev asked.

"I guess I should change into a silly uniform first," Luke said, pulling one out of the bag. It was a two-piece uniform, and the tunic had a name patch across the left hand side. His read 'Cadet Skywalker'. He was relieved his father had obviously contacted them prior to his arrival and told them his name. If it had read 'Cadet Vader', he might have had to chop it out.

When he stepped out of the tent clad in his new attire, Zev glanced at him and then said, "Congratulations. You now look like everybody else," in a vaguely cynical tone. Luke was starting to get the impression his tent-mate was as unenthusiastic about being here as he was.

He was friendly enough during the tour though, describing things in the same distant tone he'd used earlier when talking about the tent. He showed him the refreshers, the dining hall, the medical bay, the indoor gym and then moved on to the surrounding areas. There were many obstacle courses, including a rope course far up in the trees. They passed the lake a few times, and Luke could see a few cadets swimming over the far side. There was an officer supervising them.

"How many officers are here?" Luke asked.

"At the moment, five," Zev said, picking up a stray tree branch from the ground, and fidgeting with it as they walked. "Not counting Commander Hayge and Lt Cmdr Mata—they're in charge. We generally only see them when they take indoor classes. There're five other Lieutenants—one per team."

"How many on our team?"

"Six counting you," Zev said. "I'll introduce you to the others at dinner. We're Team Loyalty. The teams are named after various Imperial values."

"What are the other teams called?" Luke asked, almost afraid to ask.

"Dedication, Sacrifice, Honor and Bravery."

"How about control, intimidation, fear and suppression?" Luke suggested, with a smirk. "Can we change our team name?"

Zev stared at him like he was crazy.

"Sorry," Luke said, looking away. He shouldn't have made a joke like that without knowing Zev a little better. "That wasn't funny."

"It was funny, but I can't believe you said that," Zev said, shaking his head. "Don't say anything like that around the officers ... talk like that can get you sent to the commander's office. They'd call it treason. Maybe it's okay to make jokes like that on Coruscant, but the officers here have served on the frontlines. Some of them practically worship the Emperor. They talk about the Imperial cause like it's sacred."

"I'll watch what I say," Luke said, carefully.

* * *

Vader gazed at the stars streaking past out the cockpit window, without really seeing them. He wasn't used to second-guessing his decisions. Having doubts could be fatal on the battlefield. But he hadn't been prepared for how unsettling it would feel to leave Luke behind. It was ridiculous, really. He left Luke on Coruscant on a regular basis, sometimes for weeks at a time. This was no different.

Luke wouldn't be so upset once he made some friends and settled down at this place. He would enjoy being outdoors on a planet that wasn't all concrete and durasteel. Besides, he had to look at this realistically. Luke required more of his time and attention than the entire galaxy combined. The only way he was going to curb this tide of recklessness was by putting Luke under constant supervision. Something he simply didn't have the time for personally. This was the best decision for all concerned.

Luke was in good hands. For the first time in two years he didn't have to worry about his son, so he should start enjoying it. He could do all the things he used to do before the constant concern of fatherhood had settled in. He'd begin making a list of everything he hoped to accomplish when he reached Mustafar, starting with some meditation. Perhaps he could catch up with that right now.

He made himself comfortable in the pilot's seat, and reached out to join himself with the ever-present dark energy. It swirled around him, responding to his mental touch, and seeping up his frustration over Luke. He was just starting to settle into it, when he was interrupted by the sound of someone laughing. Not someone. Luke. Luke was laughing.

Vader stood up in surprise, and looked back towards the passenger lounge. Luke couldn't be here. He'd left him on Kawai VI. There was no way he could have got back on the ship without him knowing.

He walked to the door of the passenger lounge, and glanced inside, almost dreading what he would see. But the sight left him both angry and relieved. There were five Lukes, all sitting on one couch, identical right down to their boots. The clone dream.

"For star's sake," he said, angrily. "Go away!"

They looked frightened at his words. "Don't you love us?" the closest one asked.

"We'll be good!" another one interrupted.

Vader started towards them, half tempted to jam them in the airlock and release them into space. But even he couldn't bring himself to do that. They looked too much like his real son. He couldn't remember Luke ever being quite this needy, however.

"If you want to please me, then be gone from my mind," Vader said. "You're interfering with my meditation."

"You care about your meditation more than us?"

"Well, that's obvious," another one said. "Stop whining, Whiny."

"Takes one to know one, Hutt-face!"

Vader turned away, silently begging the Force to let this vision end. "Quiet," he said, firmly.

"But Whiny said—"

"I said _quiet_ ," Vader said, turning back. "And don't call him Whiny."

"But that's his name."

"It's a stupid name," Vader said. "From now on, you are Luke1, Luke2, etcetera."

"Who's Luke1?"

"Figure that out yourselves."

In a second, they were all arguing over who was who. Vader stepped backwards, feeling his heart begin to beat faster. He could face many things, but not the prospect of mediating an argument between five Lukes. He turned away, intending to return to the pilot's seat, but his vision dissolved around him. He sat up quickly, and gripped the controls. The faint echo of the clone's arguing voices could still be heard.

* * *

That evening, Luke followed Zev into the dining hall. They collected trays loaded with food, and then Zev led him over to the table set aside for Team Loyalty. There were three cadets already sitting there.

"We have a new team member," Zev said, gesturing at Luke. "Luke, this is Lamber Fonz." Zev gestured at a boy who smiled at Luke and mumbled a 'hi'. Zev continued to the next boy, who looked about two years younger than Luke, perhaps more. His uniform was slightly too big for him, making him look even smaller. "And our youngest team member, Bo Jetner." Bo smiled shyly, then went back to his dinner. Zev pointed at the last boy, who was smirking at Luke in a slightly unpleasant way. "And Crepes."

Luke smiled in greeting, but Crepes only raised an eyebrow in response.

"There's one other team member," Zev said, turning to Luke. "He'll be around somewhere. I'm going to get some serviettes."

Zev put his tray down the other end of the table, several spans away from the other cadets. Luke was just thinking about where to sit, when another cadet appeared beside the table, also carrying a tray of food. He glanced at Luke once, and then did a double take.

"Luke?!"

Luke studied the cadet and recognized him from school. His name was Havy Upworth, son of some famous general, and he was two years older than him.

"Where did you come from?" Havy asked.

"I just came today," Luke explained.

"Really? What did you do?"

"Um ..."

Havy sat down and gestured for Luke to sit opposite. "Stupid tabloids photographed me kissing the Jreen senator's daughter at a party. I guess I'd had too much to drink, because I just didn't see them ... then my parents' stupid PR consultant recommended they send me here just to stop her father from coming after me with a blaster."

"I, uh ..." Luke stared at his food, suddenly realizing how childish his story about sneaking onto a bounty hunter's ship really was. He couldn't tell Havy that. "I would rather not say."

"That bad, huh?"

"My father didn't take it well," Luke agreed.

"Well I don't imagine your father has a lot of tolerance for things that get ... out of control. Have you met the rest of the team?"

Luke glanced at the others. "Yes, uh ... Zev introduced me."

Zev returned at that moment, and sat down at the other end of the table. Luke wondered why he sat apart from the rest of them, but then Zev produced a databook. He held it up to read in one hand, while eating with the other. It had a picture of a tree on the back, and the title said something about landscape design. It didn't look all that riveting to Luke, but maybe Zev was interested in that kind of thing.

"He's your tent-mate?" Havy said, pointing a thumb in Zev's direction. "Well, if you get tired of finding books in your sleeping bag, there's always room in mine and Crepes tent."

Luke thought back, but couldn't remember any databooks in the tent at all. Odd.

Suddenly, a stream of mustard shot through the air and splattered all over the front of his uniform. Luke stood up in shock and looked around for the perpetrator. It didn't take long to figure it out. Crepes was still holding the mustard tube.

"Newbie!" he taunted, throwing a handful of rice for good measure. The rice stuck to the mustard, and the whole mixture started to seep into his tunic.

Some other cadets at a neighboring table saw what was happening and began to laugh. Lamber and Bo just stared at Crepes like he was crazy, but Havy leaned over and grabbed Crepes by the collar. "You Hutt-head!" he said, shaking him. "What the hell are you doing?"

Zev called Luke's name, and held up some of the paper towels he'd retrieved earlier. Luke gratefully went to accept them, taking his food tray with him.

"I should have warned you to watch out for that," Zev said, as Luke tried to dab himself off. The mustard was so thick, he only made it worse. "Check your sleeping bag tonight, in case anyone put glue in there."

Luke didn't reply. The shock was starting to wear off and be replaced with anger.

He glanced back at the other end of the table, where things had fallen suspiciously silent. They were all staring at him as if waiting for some kind of reaction. One part of him was tempted to throw some food of his own, but growing up on Tatooine had left him averse to wasting food, for any reason.

Finally, Crepes left his seat and walked over, looking apologetic. He was a good head taller than Luke, and probably a year older. He scratched his ear, looking embarrassed, and then said, "Sorry about that. I ... I didn't realize. I was just joking around."

"It wasn't funny," Luke said, annoyed.

"I know, I'm so sorry," he said, now sounding nervous. "I'll do anything you want to make it up to you. I swear, anything."

"Anything?" Zev said, smirking. He'd been watching the conversation with interest.

The cadet ignored him and picked up a slice of pie from Luke's plate. He held it out.

"Here. You can throw this at me if you like."

"I want to eat that," Luke said, snatching it back.

"I'll do it," Zev said, standing up and picking up some of his own food.

"Stay out of this, Veers." He turned back to Luke. "Please, let me do something to make it up to you."

His display was so pathetic, Luke felt the last of his anger slipping away. This guy was clearly a little unstable.

"Forget it," Luke insisted.

In response, the cadet suddenly looked afraid. He'd been looking nervous before, but now he was genuinely afraid. Luke could even sense it. He glanced over at Zev, and found he looked much the same. The cause soon became apparent when a shadow fell across the table. Luke turned around to find an officer was standing there. It was clear from his narrow, cold eyes that he wasn't happy, by any measure.

" _What_ is going on here?!" he demanded.

Crepes launched into a flurry of apologies and nothing sirs, but Zev remained silent. Eventually the officer pointed towards the door. "All three of you—outside! Now! Move!"

 _Great_ , Luke thought, as he followed Zev towards the door. He'd been here less than a day, and already he was in trouble. It was almost starting to feel like home. The other cadets in the lunchroom stared at them as they walked past, some with pity.

Once outside, Crepes and Zev stood at attention, waiting for the officer to join them. He was still inside. Luke stood beside them, and waved some of the night insects away from his face. He could see hordes of them buzzing around the exterior lights on the dining hall.

"Who was that?" Luke asked, finally.

"Lieutenant Tancher," Zev supplied.

"Also known as Lieutenant Torture," Crepes said.

Zev smirked. "Yeah. Who died and made him Darth Vader, that's what I want to know."

Luke turned to Zev in surprise. "Who died and made him—what?"

"Shut your mouth, Veers," Crepes said, looking nervous.

It occurred to Luke that Havy must have told Crepes who his father was. That would also explain why he was apologizing so profusely a moment ago.

"It's just an expression," Zev said, looking equally confused at the reaction his remark had received. "Like when you say to someone overeating 'who died and made you Gigantia the Hutt', or when—"

Lieutenant Tancher walked out of the building at that moment, and Zev fell silent. He came to a halt in front of them, and then stared directly at Luke.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before."

"I ... uh ..." Luke stuttered.

"He's Cadet Luke Skywalker, sir," Zev supplied. "He just arrived a few hours ago."

The lieutenant's expression suddenly changed, and he glanced at Luke again. This time, his face was more curious than anything else. Finally, he looked back at Zev.

"And were you assigned to look after him, Veers?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then why does he have food smeared across his uniform?!"

Zev didn't reply. He obviously wasn't willing to get Crepes in trouble, no matter how much he deserved it. One look at Lieutenant Tancher convinced Luke that no one deserved that.

"I spilled my plate," Luke supplied.

"You like to eat mustard and rice?" the lieutenant asked, pointing at the large stain.

"Uh ... yes, it's a great combo," Luke said. "You should try it sometime."

Zev and Crepes stared at him like he was crazy. The lieutenant's expression suggested he was thinking much the same thing.

Eventually, he waved a hand. "Go back inside. Cadet Veers, you will come with me."

Luke was about to protest, but the words died in his mouth as Zev immediately walked after the lieutenant.

"Are you going to let him take the blame?" Luke asked Crepes.

"He didn't say he was in trouble. He just wanted to speak to him. It's probably about something else."

"What if it isn't?"

"What can I do? I can't go after them—he said he only wanted to speak to Veers. Listen, you don't mess around with Lieutenant Tancher. It doesn't matter whose son you are. Before he came here he was an interrogation specialist. He was transferred out of the field because too many of his suspects kept dying on him. He ordered us to go back inside—that means we go back inside."

Crepes walked past him, doing just that. Luke took one last glance into the darkness, and then followed him.

* * *


	5. Chapter 5

Vader had taken extra care to keep active during the rest of the day, unwilling to risk another descent into the madness that were his recent meditations. If his master found out about this, he would probably order him to have a medical examination. Or worse, he would take it as a sign that he wasn't coping with Luke, and insist he make other arrangements for the boy's care.

He had attended several meetings at ISB, and was now making preparations to leave for Mustafar, when he decided he could at least use a break, if not an actual meditation session. He found himself pausing as he walked past Luke's bedroom, on his way to his own private chambers. It was funny how you didn't notice things until they weren't there. Almost instinctively, he'd stretched out with the Force to ensure Luke was safe in bed.

Vader turned around, changing his mind about needing a break. He would go and start the pre-flight warm-up sequence on a shuttle, and try to put an end to this pathetic display. Luke had barely been gone a few hours. He _wasn't_ missing him. That would be pure insanity. He had made his life a blackhole of stress while he'd been here, and now he was supposed to be enjoying the freedom of not having to worry about his reckless young offspring.

When he arrived in the hangar, he happened to walk past a tech room, and saw the pathetic sight of REQ-Less-1, still sitting in a powered-down state in the corner. The droid had been sadly neglected since its completion. A field test was long overdue.

Once it was powered up, it immediately started rolling forward.

"Greetings. I am REQ-Less-1, astromech-protocol hybrid—"

"I know who you are," Vader said. "Follow me. I require you to assist me with a maintenance check on a shuttle engine."

"I am capable of fixing many mechanical faults," REQ-Less-1 intoned.

"We shall see," Vader said, walking out of the tech room.

The droid rolled along behind. "It is my pleasure to be of service to you."

 _Too talkative_ , Vader thought. He would have to ask Luke to fix it tomorrow. He paused by the shuttle for a moment, deciding which engine to check first, and then it occurred to him that Luke wouldn't be around tomorrow. He wouldn't be here for another four weeks.

He heard a whirring noise, and looked down to see REQ-Less was already attempting to expose the ship's maintenance panel. The only problem was the droid was using a high-powered drill to do it.

"Stop," Vader said. "You will permanently damage it."

REQ-Less backed off, but it did not retract the drill. "May I translate something for you?"

"Translate this," Vader said. "Do not speak unless you have important information to relay."

"What language would you like it translated into, sir?" the droid asked.

Vader groaned in annoyance, and then turned back to the shuttle. The droid clearly had a few loose wires.

Behind him, he heard a beeping noise, and he looked over to find Artoo had emerged from the droid charging station. Clearly, the droid had heard the noise and decided to investigate. Due to the angle Artoo was approaching from, he didn't notice REQ-Less until he was right next to him. He swiveled his dome around to scan the new droid, and then let out a sudden high-pitched screech.

"It is only another droid," Vader said, wearily. "There is no need for panic."

Artoo didn't listen. He began beeping and whistling loudly, calling repeatedly for Threepio. Vader shook his head, turning back to the shuttle. He should make a recording of this for Luke. Threepio's voice soon drifted out of the droid storage room.

"Artoo? Whatever's the matter, Artoo? Stop making such a racket."

There was a whirring noise, and Vader turned to find REQ-Less had started up the drill again. This time, he was attempting to drill Artoo. Perhaps he thought the noise coming from Artoo was a defect that needed to be repaired, or perhaps he decided he didn't like Artoo much either. Vader didn't know. Whatever the reasoning, it was the last decision REQ-Less made. Artoo extended a charging fork, and released a burst of electricity. REQ-Less shot backwards, crackled blue with residual charge for a moment, and then promptly exploded. Pieces of him bounced off Vader's armor.

Threepio then came hurrying up, waving his arms around frantically. "Artoo! What happened?! I heard something explode!"

"Yes," Vader said, in a tone heavy with repressed anger. "A newly constructed droid Luke had been working on for weeks."

Artoo whistled something about it being a hideous monstrosity.

"That is no excuse for destroying it," Vader said. "You are supposed to fix things, not break them."

Artoo beeped sadly.

"An accident? How could electrocuting it be an accident?" Vader asked. "You are starting to sound like Luke!"

Artoo whistled something about self-defense, and then asked Threepio to back him up.

"I'm sorry, Artoo, you are on your own," Threepio said, backing away.

Artoo remained still for another three seconds, then whistled something about needing to fix a squeaky door. As Vader watched him make a hasty escape, a realization dawned. _You just lectured a droid_. Was he really missing Luke that much? Another hour here, and who knew what he'd be doing.

It was time to leave for Mustafar.

* * *

After dinner, it was free time until lights out. Some cadets went off to watch the HoloNet in the common room, and Havy invited Luke to play beep ball with him and Crepes in the gym. But Luke was concerned about Zev. He politely declined, and then made his way back to the tent.

Zev wasn't inside. For a moment, he considered checking the common room, but then he realized that was unlikely. He'd only known Zev for a few hours, but it was clear he was introverted. There was nothing to do but sit and wait here.

Luke leaned over and unzipped his luggage. He'd been so angry this morning, he hadn't paid attention to what he'd put in his bag, and what he'd left behind. There had to be something of interest in here, if only a databook. His search was rewarded when he found himself looking at his flightsim game. This would keep him entertained for hours yet.

It was lying under a datapad of some sort. Luke pulled both objects out, and realized the datapad was in fact a collection of holoimages. It normally sat on his bedside table on Coruscant, and randomly displayed a holo from his collection. He switched it on, and it lit up with a holo of his parents on their wedding day.

He quickly pressed the forward button, not wanting to look at his father right now. Unfortunately, the next photo was a far more recent one, of him and his father taken by some media photographer at the last Empire Day celebration. He pressed the back button, deciding there were better ways to reveal his parentage to Zev, than letting him catch sight of that particular image.

The sound of the tent being opened caused him to drop the holoprojector. Zev had returned. He didn't look at Luke. Instead he went to his sleeping bag and flopped down face-first onto his pillow.

"Are you okay?" Luke asked. "I'm so sorry! What happened? What did he do to you?"

"Don't worry," Zev mumbled, in a tone that said he didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry," Luke repeated. "This was all my fault. I should have just sat down and—"

Zev turned sideways slightly, so he could see Luke.

"Luke, who are your parents?"

"Um," Luke glanced at the holoimage, now lying beside his pillow. "Why do you ask?"

"Crepes was almost frightened of you ... my father outranks his, but he doesn't act that way around me. Torture let you address him without calling him sir. Then he gives me this big lecture about how if anything should happen to you again, he'll lock me in a closet with some pain droids. Obviously everyone else knows something that I don't. You must be the son of some regional governor."

"No," Luke said, distantly.

"The Emperor's nephew?"

"Stars, no!" Luke said, revolted at the idea.

Zev snapped his fingers. "Lord Vader. I know he has a son."

"That he pushed off to military camp," Luke said, sadly.

"Really? Lord Vader is your father? Oh ... sorry about that thing I said earlier. I didn't mean—"

"Don't worry about it," Luke said. "I know how people see my father. But they only see one side of him. There's more to him than what he tries to make out."

Zev shook his head. "Lord Vader is your father ... but you seem so ... normal."

"Thanks ... I think," Luke said.

"You must have met heaps of important people ... stars, you could be Emperor yourself someday!"

Luke burst out laughing. "My father won't let me sit in a pilot's seat, never mind the galactic throne."

Zev didn't appear to hear him. He was staring distantly into the tent wall.

"Luke," he said, finally, "about that thing you said earlier ... when I was giving you the tour. The thing about the team names ... when you suggested they should be called fear and oppression."

"Oh that," Luke said. "What about it?"

"Do you really believe that, or were you just joking?"

Luke considered it. "I don't know," he admitted. "I don't really know a lot about politics. In social studies class it seems like the Empire has done so much good for the galaxy, but then I see things happening that don't seem right. For instance, I saw this thing on the news once, where an Imperial starfleet bombed a city until it was nothing more than a hole in the ground, just because there was a Rebel cell operating there. It seemed like a total waste. I asked my father about it, but he wouldn't give me a straight answer."

Luke paused for a moment, thinking.

"Maybe I don't understand the war and the fighting, but I do know I hate the Emperor."

" _You_ hate the Emperor? But why?"

"I've met him. That about sums it up."

"Not so loud," Zev said, frowning. "If one of the officers heard you ... wait, what am I saying? They couldn't do anything! No wonder Torture let you get away with not calling him sir." Zev began to snigger. "He knows you could be his future boss one day."

"I doubt it," Luke said.

"Don't tell him that. Stars, I wish I could talk back to him and get away with it. There are so many things I'd like to say to him."

Luke leaned back, staring at the tent ceiling. The idea of being able to talk back to the officers should have made him happy, but there was only one adult he took pleasure in talking back to. Someone who was far away.

"Do they ever let us use the comlink?" he asked.

"Only on weekends. You get two minutes."

Maybe he'd have to swallow his pride, and take Lev's advice about groveling. He could contact his father after being here a few days, and beg him to let him come home.

"You can take my timeslot as well, if you like," Zev said. "I never use it."

"You never call your parents?"

"I have to live with my father for three weeks every year. That's more than enough."

"I can understand that," Luke sighed.

* * *

Vaneé was waiting to greet him when he walked down the shuttle ramp in the hangar bay on Mustafar. The man looked behind him in anticipation, and then a shadow of disappointment passed across his face.

"Welcome, my lord. Young Luke is not with you?"

"You should be grateful," Vader said, pointing at Vaneé. He didn't elaborate further.

Vaneé simply nodded. "Do you need anything, my lord?"

"Clear my schedule for the next two weeks," Vader said. "The only interruption I will accept is from Boba Fett. He is currently attempting to locate a traitor."

It then occurred to Vader that, if the bounty hunter was successful, he could have the ex-Captain Flenn brought directly here. The detention cells had seen a deplorable lack of use since Luke had arrived in his life. Interrogating someone in the cells while Luke was upstairs playing holovid games would not have won him any fatherhood awards. He wouldn't have put it past his son to attempt to free a prisoner, given his compassionate heart.

"You can also turn off the safety barriers," Vader said, as they walked out onto the bridge in the main entrance hall. "I have no use for them in the immediate future."

If he should receive an undesirable interruption, it would not be ideal if he had to enter all the override codes before the visitor was able to accidentally slip over the edge.

"It will be done, my lord."

By the time Vader reached the elevators, he was feeling his mood improve. Dueling practice. Meditating in the basement temple. The prospect of interrogating a traitorous navy captain. Sleeping in the bacta tank for as long as he should care to, without having to worry about Luke giving into the temptation to put his hands all over his prized Naboo N1 starfighter. Luke's summer vacation was quickly becoming his own little vacation from parenthood. He intended to appreciate every moment.

* * *

By the following morning, word had spread quickly around the camp that Luke was Vader's son. By the second day, there was a collection of younger cadets outside Luke's tent, asking if he'd mind autographing their camp guides. It had felt incredibly vain to do so, but Luke had decided obliging would be the quickest way to get them out of his hair. However, when one cadet insisted he sign it 'Luke Vader' instead of 'Luke Skywalker' he ended up telling them all to go away.

Their presence had made him late for their team's allocated use of the showers, and he hurried across the grass in his bare feet, carrying his uniform in the camp duffel bag. Fortunately, he was used to taking a quick shower, from all his years on Tatooine, and he found he still retained the skill, despite his more recent experience of taking as long as he wanted at the Imperial Palace.

When he came out of the stall, pulling on his uniform tunic, he found Havy was shaving in the mirror while Crepes waited for his uniform to finish the drying cycle in the laundry unit. They were supposed to leave laundry bags for the service droid to process overnight, but clearly Crepes had forgotten.

"How much time do we have left?" He thumped the machine. "Come on, hurry up."

"Just wear it damp," Havy said. "It will dry on your body."

"What if Torture has a uniform inspection?"

"We've got Lieutenant Robyson this morning," Havy said. "Tracking."

Crepes sighed with relief, and then snatched Zev's towel off his shower door and used it to dry off his face and hair.

"Hey!" Zev shouted, his voice muffled by the running water within.

"It's still good!" Crepes insisted, putting it back

"Gross!" Zev insisted he get him a fresh one, but Crepes was distracted by the laundry unit finishing its cycle, and he went to unload it. In retaliation, Zev soaked the towel under the water, and then stepped out of the stall and tossed it across the refresher at Crepes, causing a wet splash across his newly dried uniform tunic. Crepes quickly grabbed the rest of his uniform and took off, before Zev did anything worse.

Luke was beginning to see why Lamber and Bo had come early and cleared out quickly. He went to get a fresh towel for Zev from the stack by the door, and shook it out as he passed it over.

"Thanks, Luke."

As he turned back to enter the shower stall, wrapping the towel around his waist, Luke caught a momentary glimpse of some faded red burn marks, standing out starkly against the pale skin of his lower body. He quickly averted his eyes, trying to ignore the thought that they looked just like a mark he once had on his arm, after he and Windy had been messing around with an electro-shock pole they'd found in the dunes out the back of Windy's farm. They were sometimes used for herding dewbacks on Tatooine.

Zev was changed into his uniform a moment later, and he left the refresher, running his hands through his hair on the way. Luke remained in front of the mirrors, carefully combing his own. He glanced up at Havy, who was busy putting gel in his black curls, carefully placing them so they sat just right.

"Havy," he started, hesitantly. He paused, wondering if he really wanted to know the answer, but then decided to push on. "What goes on in Torture's office that everyone is so wary of him?"

Havy met his gaze for a moment, and then bent down to wash his hands. "You saw the marks on Zev?"

Luke nodded.

"It's called a punishment stick." Havy indicated the length with his hands. "About a meter long … carries an electro-charge, but it's set way lower than the type of weapons the royal guards have. It's just meant to sting. There's no way it should ever leave marks. But there's rumours Torture has one with the power cranked way up. Not sure if it's true, and Zev doesn't want to talk about it."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Is this even allowed? Hitting cadets as punishment?"

Havy smiled in a knowing way. "It's not like private school on Coruscant, Luke. But Commander Hayge is a fair guy. It's only supposed to be used for the most serious things. Like willfully disobeying orders. Last weekend, Crepes and I got sent to his office because we tried to sneak over to the girl's camp."

"There's a girl's camp?"

Havy nodded. "It's about a 2 kilometer hike away. Nearly made it too." He sighed in a wistful way, and then seemed to remember his point. "Anyway, he gave us a choice. Three days of mess hall duty or the punishment stick. I don't actually know how to do dishes, so I chose the stick."

"Really? Did it hurt?"

"No. Because you just shove some speeder brake insulation in your underwear and you don't feel a thing."

Luke laughed. "That's great."

"Thank General Upworth for that little piece of advice."

"But haven't you told Zev?"

"Yes. But apparently it doesn't do him any good. Maybe Torture is wise to it. Who knows. I've told him he should talk to Commander Hayge about it too. He's always singling him out."

"Yeah," Luke agreed, looking down. "I still feel bad about what happened on my first night."

"That was Crepes fault, not yours," Havy said, picking up his bag. "Come on. Time's nearly up."

A busy day of outdoor activities awaited, and by lunchtime, Luke almost felt like being here might not be half-bad. The weather was fine, and most of the cadets were good company. Lieutenant Robyson was a young, friendly guy in his twenties, and Luke caught him watching him a few times. Probably looking for signs he was about to lose his temper and attempt to choke someone with the Force, if he knew anything. During a break in the afternoon's archery lesson, the man finally sat down to talk to him.

"You're really good at this," he noted. "You've done it before?"

"Sort of," Luke said. "But not with proper equipment like this. We used to build bows and arrows out of junk on Tatooine and try and hit womp rats." He shrugged. "I always had good aim."

"Tatooine? Desert world?"

Luke nodded. "I grew up there with my aunt and uncle."

"I'm from a desert world too. Signi. Couldn't wait to enrol in the army and get off that dry rock."

Luke smirked. "You didn't live on a moisture farm, did you?"

"My folks own a trading outpost. They've never lived anywhere else and don't want to." He gestured towards Bo, who was currently trying to hit the target board, but aiming too low. "I was watching you help the others. You're a patient teacher. Did you have lots of cousins on Tatooine?"

"No, always been an only child," Luke said, looking down.

"That must get lonely," he said. Luke didn't reply, so he gestured towards Team Loyalty. "Now you can experience what it's like to have brothers."

Just as he said this, Crepes came along and knocked Havy's elbow just as he was releasing the bow, causing his energy bolt to fly off into a nearby tree. Luke thought back to the morning's craziness in the refresher, and wondered if Lieutenant Robyson would think he was rude if he said he wasn't sure that was an experience he really needed.

"I think I might prefer a sister," he said, causing the lieutenant to smile.

"I've taken the girl cadets for orienteering before. Believe me, it's no better."

He stood up to go and sort out the scuffle about to break out between Havy and Crepes, and Luke decided it was time to continue helping the rest of his team. They were going to have a contest once the practice session was over, and they were hoping to not come last for once.

All the outdoor activity wore him out, and he slept well that night, only waking when Zev's alarm went off. But nothing had dimmed his desire to return home. Knowing he hadn't even said a proper goodbye to his father was eating at him. He'd been in a foul mood that day, granted, but he still should have said goodbye.

So, when the weekend rolled around, and after another day of hiking and adding to his orienteering skills, Luke rushed to get a good place in the comlink queue. Havy joined him, scrolling through comlink frequencies on a datapad.

"Decisions, decisions," he mumbled.

"Deciding who to call?" Luke asked.

"Yes. Jacqui or Jalyn. Or maybe Besa ... if her father's not around. If he answers the call, that would be a total waste."

Luke shook his head. Havy, with his golden-brown skin, square jaw, and curly black hair, was rumoured to have been the cause of a few fights at school.

Crepes appeared behind them and tried to reach over Havy's shoulder to grab his datapad. Havy pushed him away.

"Please," Crepes said. "Just one number."

"I already said _no_."

Crepes sulked for a moment, then he noticed Luke.

"Hey, you've got two chips. How did you get two?"

"Zev gave me his," Luke explained.

Crepes snorted with laughter. "How pathetic. Imagine having no one to call."

"He does have someone to call, he just doesn't want to speak to him," Havy explained.

"Do you know why?" Luke asked, curious.

"I've found it's better not to ask about his father," Havy said. "But you have to wonder about it. He leaves Zev in military school for all but three weeks every year. No wonder he resents him."

"What happened to his mother?" Luke asked.

"She died."

"Oh," Luke said. The words instantly made him think about his own mother.

"So who are you calling, Luke?" Crepes asked.

"My father, of course."

"They would let you talk to him anytime," Havy said. "Here, take one of my numbers. Mulu is drop-dead gorgeous. Her father is the president of Nylar."

"Not fair! You wouldn't give me one!" Crepes complained.

"I trust Luke to treat the lady properly. I have a reputation to uphold, Crepes."

"What am I supposed to do with a stranger's number?" Luke asked. "Hello, you don't know me, but how's the weather?"

"Exactly," Havy said. "Say that Havy Upworth gave you her number, and as soon as you heard her name, you had a feeling you were meant to call her. Then tell her you are Lord Vader's son, and before you know it, you'll have a date for when you get back to Coruscant."

Luke stopped short of admitting he wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do on a date with some president's daughter. He was still trying to figure out how to talk to the girls in his class at school. "She would probably cut the call if I mentioned my father."

"Not true," Havy said. "If I say my name is Havy, I'm just a sixteen year old kid to these girls. If I say Havy, son of General Upworth ... well, that's how I got this list of numbers."

"I don't think I'd want to date anyone who only liked me because of my father," Luke said.

"You're next," Crepes said, pointing Luke towards a vacant comm booth.

Luke walked forward, and shut the door behind him. He pushed the chip into the slot, and the display lit up in front of him. The first number he tried was his father's private comlink frequency. It tried to connect for a few seconds, and then disconnected with an 'out of range' signal.

"Blast it, where are you?!"

Luke quickly entered an alternative number, hoping it was only a matter of a damaged relay circuit. After a good minute of listening to it beep, he cut it off, and decided to try the palace assistant office. At least they would be able to tell him where his father was. It took another thirty seconds for that to be answered, and when it was, Luke recognised Ensign Kirk, an assistant who reported to Lev.

"Hi, Luke," she said, smiling. "How's camp?"

"It's … camp," he said, looking down. "Is Lev around? Or is it nighttime there?" He wasn't sure of the time difference with Imperial City.

"As soon as your father left the palace, Lieutenant Hicks and Commander Julius showed up and flew him to the spaceport. They basically forced him to take a vacation. He sent us a picture from the beach yesterday."

"Seriously?" So much for being available to come and pick him up. But he had to admit, Lev did need a vacation. "So where's my father?"

"On Mustafar." She adjusted the holo field so Luke could see the screen in their office. Unknown to all but a small number of trusted people, it showed the number of days his father had been on Coruscant, which was often a good indication of his mood. It was currently showing a happy zero.

Luke sighed. "Okay. Uh … can you transfer me? My call to his personal comlink showed out of range, so I don't think it can route directly."

"Sure thing. Yeah, that often happens when there's a storm there." She pressed a few buttons, and then said, "Take care."

The image changed to a rotating Imperial Logo. After a minute, during which Luke anxiously watched the time tick away on his quota, Vaneé finally answered. He smiled when he recognised his caller.

"Luke! Hello, young man. I've been wondering where you were."

"My father didn't tell you?"

"He's been somewhat … quiet on the subject, shall we say."

"He enrolled me in military camp."

"Ah. Did you pull one stunt too many?"

"I don't pull any 'stunts'. I don't know why everyone always talks like I'm an out-of-control delinquent teen from Corellia. I just … happened to have an accident where I was on board Boba Fett's ship when he left Coruscant. He brought me back, no harm done. But the way my father told it, I might as well have reduced the Imperial Palace to rubble."

"Well, you know to mind your father's temper, young man."

"I do," Luke sighed. "Is he available? I need to talk to him."

"Unfortunately he's in the bacta tank at the moment."

"Then could you pass on a message at least? Just tell him I'd rather be on Mustafar. And say that the thing with the bounty hunter's ship was an accident. Wait, maybe scratch that last part. Just say that ..." Luke paused. Just say that he missed him? His father hated it when he got 'sentimental', as he called it.

The timer began to flash red, indicating he had less than a minute left.

"Just tell him I called," he finished.

"I'll make sure to pass it on. Hopefully we'll see you back here soon."

"Thanks Vaneé," Luke said.

Luke sighed as he released the call, unable to withhold his disappointment any longer. He'd been looking forward to this call all day, and now it seemed it could be days before he heard from his father.

He stared at his unused comlink chip, wondering what to do with it. He could try lining up again and calling Ben ...

Loud banging on the door put an end to that train of thought. Crepes was outside, looking impatient.

"It's all yours," Luke said, walking away.

* * *

Luke sat outside the tent for a long while, staring up at the stars. It was a much brighter view than you could get from Coruscant. One of the brightest stars was probably Coruscant's sun. His father would be able to tell him which. He held on to the thought, and closed his eyes.

 _Father_ ...

There was nothing to indicate whether his mental call had been heard. Perhaps it didn't work over long distances. His father had never explained the technicalities of their exclusive communication line.

Eventually, he crawled back into the tent, feeling melancholy.

"You're quiet," Zev said, finally.

"So are you."

"I'm always quiet," Zev said. "You're usually playing that flightsim game. What happened? Did you get to speak to your father?"

Luke shook his head. "He's not available right now."

"Bad luck."

Luke lay back on his sleeping bag, and stared at the tent roof.

"It's nice that you miss him," Zev said, distantly. "Most people here think getting away from the parents is the best thing about this place. I know I do. Actually, that's the only good thing about this place."

"It's not so much that I miss him," Luke explained. "When we parted, my father and I were arguing. I didn't even say goodbye to him. Normally when we argue, it's all over the next day. Because we haven't had a chance to talk, it feels like we're still arguing. I just wanted to let him know that I don't hate him. I mean, what if something happened to him?" Luke considered it for a moment. "I've only been living with him for two years," he added. "Before that I thought he was dead. Sometimes I have this feeling like he could be taken away again, just like that."

Zev was quiet for a long while, and then he said, "I'm sure he knows you don't hate him."

Luke shook his head. "You don't know my father—sometimes he talks like he wants me to hate him, and can't understand why I don't. He gets annoyed when I call him 'Dad'."

"There is only one thing I'm allowed to call my father," Zev said. "And that is 'sir'."

Luke smiled. "He should meet my father sometime. They'd probably get on really well."

"Oh, they have met," Zev said. "My father is a great admirer of his frontline command style."

Zev put his databook aside for a moment, and joined Luke in contemplating the tent ceiling. "I remember missing my father, once," he said. "That was a long time ago."

"What happened?"

"I suppose it all started after my mother died. He didn't cope with it well ... sent me off to boarding school and buried himself in his career. I saw less and less of him as the years went by. As I got older, I started questioning a lot of what I was learning about ... certain things in history class. I wrote essays that the teachers didn't like. The school told my father that I was going astray due to a lack of parental attention."

"Then he sent you to military school?"

"Yes. He wants me to be an officer, just like him. I can't think of anything I want less." Zev sighed. "Only three more years and then he is no longer my legal guardian. That's the only thing that keeps me going."

"Does he know how you feel?" Luke asked.

"Oh yes, he knows." Zev paused for a moment. "He told Lieutenant Tancher to keep a close eye on me."

Luke cringed with understanding.

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

Luke was picking over his lunch when he felt someone slap him on the back. He looked up to see Havy.

"Still haven't heard from your father?"

Luke shook his head, going back to ladling spoonfuls of soup, and then pouring it back into the bowl.

"Here's some good news," Havy said. "We're having a team challenge this afternoon. Down at the obstacle course."

"Oh, goody," Zev said. He was sitting in his usual place at the other end of the lunch table, face hidden behind a databook.

Luke noticed the two cadets sitting opposite visibly shuddered.

"Are you all right, Lamber?" Luke asked, looking up. His teammate was pale, and he hadn't touched his lunch either.

"F-fine," Lamber mumbled.

"He's afraid of heights," Havy explained.

"And the other one is just a weed," Crepes said, approaching the table with a lunch tray. He gave Bo a push as he passed by, causing the young cadet to spill his drink. "He can't even do a push-up."

"Leave him alone," Luke said, annoyed.

Crepes quickly shut up.

After lunch, they walked down to the obstacle course with the other teams. To make matters worse, Lieutenant Tancher was supervising the activity, and he immediately began shouting instructions for everyone to line up at the start of the course. Luke was still learning exactly how to stand at attention, but he decided he could fake it, at least. Zev, standing beside him, made the position look natural.

He stared up at the first obstacle, which was a four-meter high climbing wall, made of interlocking rubber rings. Lamber, standing on his other side, was staring fixedly at the ground. Luke was going to reassure him, but the lieutenant began to walk down the line of cadets, outlining the rules.

"Now, pay attention! This time there will be no interfering with any other team's progress! If I see anyone pushing anyone else out of the way, your entire squad will go back to the starting line! And we have another new rule, courtesy of Team Loyalty."

Luke's team members groaned slightly, and Havy stared at the ground, rubbing his forehead.

"You may recall the last occasion, when we sat here for two hours waiting for certain cadets to finish. Seeing as we all want to get back to camp before next week, there is a maximum time limit of half an hour. Any team who has not finished in thirty minutes will be doing tedious chores every evening for a week. Do I make myself _clear_?!"

"Yes, sir," everyone dutifully answered. Luke noticed his team members didn't sound very enthusiastic.

"Now, you have five minutes to warm up," the lieutenant said, stopping at the end of the line and taking out a stopwatch. "Remember ... every last team member must be over the finish line before the timer will stop."

The teams broke off into groups to start discussing strategies. Luke turned to his teammates in surprise. "You guys took two hours to finish?" The course was long, but shouldn't take more than twenty minutes. He could do it in ten if he really pushed himself.

"Don't look at me," Havy said.

"Me neither," Crepes said. He pointed at Lamber and Bo.

Luke stared at Bo, sizing him up. He had just turned thirteen, and was small and thin for his age. Luke recalled being much the same at Bo's age, but he had since begun to fill out and was going through a growth spurt.

Lamber was only a few months younger than him, and appeared strong enough to complete the course in the allotted time. The obstacles would be more psychological than physical for him.

"Okay, here's what we'll do," Luke said. "I'll stay beside Bo and help him. Zev, you help Lamber. Crepes—go in front of us, and Havy—you stay behind us. If anyone looks down, tell them to keep looking up. Crepes—just keep saying that it's only a little bit further." Luke paused for breath. "Come on, we can do this! We can be first!"

Crepes laughed, and pointed at a neighboring team. "Team Sacrifice will be first. They're always first."

Luke glanced at the elite team, who were doing warm-up stretching exercises.

"Well, we'll at least finish before half an hour is up," Luke insisted.

"I'm sorry," Lamber said, holding his stomach. "I don't think I can do it ..."

"Yes, you can!" Luke said. "You did it last time, right?"

"In two hours," Crepes pointed out. "And Torture got sick of waiting and let him take a few shortcuts in the end."

"Listen," Luke said to Lamber, "how you feel right now ... that's worse than how it will feel when you're actually up there. My father says that fear is a far bigger obstacle than anything physical life can put in your path. Don't let your fear take over ... just think about how good you'll feel when you're on the other side, rubbing it in Torture's face that you made it in less than thirty minutes."

The last part caused Lamber to brighten up a little. Feeling like he was on a roll, Luke turned to Bo.

"Bo, you're lighter than everyone else, use that to your benefit. It's an advantage."

Bo nodded, not meeting his gaze. He was pretty shy ... Luke had barely heard him talk at all over the past week.

Lieutenant Tancher blew his whistle. "On your marks!"

Beside them, Team Sacrifice immediately organized themselves and stood at attention.

It was hardly fair, Luke thought. They all appeared to be at least fifteen. One of them looked over at Luke, and smirked in an unfriendly way. Luke frowned, and looked away.

"Get set."

Lamber and Bo reluctantly joined the rest of the team at the starting line. Crepes followed them, with an expression on his face that said 'this is going to be a disaster.'

Luke looked straight ahead, focusing on the first obstacle. The team would be up and over it in no time.

"Go!"

Crepes immediately ran for the start of the wall, but Luke followed at a slower pace. They had a whole half hour, and there was no point expending all his energy in the first five minutes.

Bo ran ahead of him, and immediately climbed up onto the first ring. Luke glanced over to make sure Zev and Lamber were okay, and then proceeded to swing himself up beside Bo. They climbed side by side until they reached the top of the wall, making good progress. He looked over to find Zev, Lamber and Havy were only a meter behind. There were sliding poles at the top of the wall, allowing them to slide down onto a horizontal log below.

"It's only a little bit further," Crepes called. He was already balancing on the log below.

"Try and sound like you mean it," Luke said. He looked back at Bo. "Do you want to go first?"

Bo shook his head.

Luke nodded and wrapped his arms and legs around the pole. He slid down and landed beside Crepes. Bo followed immediately after. He managed to balance on the log for a moment, but then Crepes ran to the other end, causing it to shake. Bo wavered and then quickly sat down, gripping the log tightly.

"Crawl it," Luke said. "I'll wait for you."

Bo shook his head and climbed back to his feet shakily. He wavered back and forth, but managed to follow Luke as they walked to the top end of the log. There was a rope hanging at the other end, so they could swing across a wide gap.

"We're already losing," Crepes sighed. He was standing on the other side. Luke grabbed the rope and swung over to join him.

"But we've still got a lot of time," Luke said, swinging the rope back to Bo. His younger teammate managed to swing okay, but didn't reach the other side of the platform. He ended up swinging back and landing on the log.

"Oh, brother," Crepes said, shaking his head.

"Come on, Bo," Luke called. "Try again! Push off from the log harder!"

Bo nodded, and managed to come a bit closer to the platform. Just as he began to swing away, Crepes reached out and grabbed him, pulling him forward to join them.

"Come on," Crepes said, pointing ahead. "The best part. Crawling in the trenches."

"You guys go on ahead," Luke said, deciding Bo wouldn't have any trouble with crawling under a net. "I'll wait for the others to catch up."

Lamber and Zev were still making their way up the adjacent log. Lamber had chosen to shuffle along it sideways, while Havy walked behind, looking bored. It took a few minutes, but eventually the rest of the team had joined Luke on the platform.

"Crawling," Havy sighed, as he jumped down into the trench. "I hate crawling."

"It's the only part I like," Lamber said, shakily.

Luke grinned. "Don't worry, we're nearly halfway there."

Zev joined Luke as they got on their hands and knees to crawl down the trench.

"We're nearly halfway, but it's the second half that's the catch," he said quietly. "You have to crawl along a ladder that's even higher than the top of the first wall ... Lamber couldn't do it last time."

"He'll do it this time," Luke insisted.

"Bo is doing much better," Zev admitted. "Last time he took ten minutes to get over the log. He kept losing his balance and falling off. Torture would make him start over."

At the end of the trenches, they crawled up a flat wall with the aid of a rope. A vast sea of cable knotted together like a spider-web spread out from there. Climbing over it was made difficult by the constant rocking back and forth caused by other cadets climbing off it on the other side. Luke paused in the middle, and looked up at what awaited them. There were several poles with metal staples sticking out of the sides. The one nearest him rose high into the air, leading to the base of a horizontal ladder, which stretched across a ten-meter gap. Some cadets were going underneath, swinging from one rung to the next. Others were choosing to climb up on top and crawl across that way. Luke could see why someone who was afraid of heights would be nervous about crossing it.

Beside him, Bo slipped and nearly fell through a hole in the net. Luke grabbed his arms and dragged him back up.

"You go first," he said, pointing at the pole. "I'm right behind you."

It took Bo a few times to gain a good foothold, and then he managed to climb up onto the pole. Luke followed, seeing Crepes had already moved out onto the ladder. He had chosen to go over the top, which looked like the best option to Luke, too. Going underneath might be quicker, but one sweaty palm and you could be plunging to the ground. Luke found himself looking down as he climbed up, wondering if anyone had ever fallen before. There were soft mats underneath, but he doubted they would feel very soft, falling from this height.

Bo reached the top of the pole, and then hesitated. He hadn't made a sound, but Luke could sense he was frightened. Crepes suddenly reached down, and dragged him up on the top of the ladder. Bo yelled out in fright as he lost his footing, and then clung to the ladder, visibly shaking.

"That's not helping," Luke said, reaching the top of the pole.

"We're the only team still out here," Crepes complained.

Luke looked ahead, and saw the other cadets were all at the finish line.

"Then go ahead and join them," Luke said. "You're better there than making things worse out here."

Crepes shrugged and did as Luke suggested, crawling over to the end of the ladder and on towards the end of the course. Luke climbed up beside Bo.

"Are you okay?"

Bo nodded, but didn't let go.

"It's not far," Luke said. "Just shuffle forward."

Bo still didn't move. He was staring fixedly at the ground.

"You won't fall," Luke said. "I swear, I'll grab you if you slip. Just take your time ... move a few centimeters, and then take a break."

Bo slid his hand along the bars, and then shifted his right leg forward. Finally, he rose up so he was on all fours, and then shuffled along the ladder.

"Great," Luke said, crawling along behind him. "We're nearly at the end with time to spare."

Bo chuckled. At the end of the ladder, he rotated and then lowered himself down onto a rope that led to the next platform. He looked up at Luke, meeting his gaze for the first time that Luke could remember.

"I'm okay from here, Luke," he said. "I think Lamber needs help more right now."

Luke looked back and found Lamber was stuck halfway up the pole. Zev was at the start of the ladder, trying to coax him up.

"See you at the finish line," he said to Bo. He quickly crawled back towards Zev.

"Zev, where's Havy?" Luke said, coming up beside him and looking down the pole.

Zev gestured over to an adjacent ladder, where Havy was crawling across.

"You're supposed to be behind Lamber," Luke called, annoyed.

"It's a lost cause, Luke," Havy said, not pausing. "Sorry. I did try, but I'm tired of waiting."

"He's right," Zev said, glancing at his wrist chrono. "We've only got five minutes before the time expires. Don't worry—Torture won't make you do chores."

"Go and make sure Bo gets to the finish," Luke said, hanging off the side so Zev could get past him. "I'll help Lamber."

Zev moved on, and Luke swung himself back up onto the ladder. He looked down the pole, and saw Lamber was clinging to the handgrips and sweating like crazy. He could sense his fear, and also his extreme embarrassment that Luke was seeing him like this. Luke could identify. He hated for anyone to see him when he was frightened.

"It's okay," Luke called. "If you want to go back down, it's okay. But if you want to finish, then I can help you. It's only a little further."

Lamber shook his head. "I ... I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sorry I'm so pathetic."

"You're not pathetic," Luke said. "You're braver than everyone else in the team to have got this far. Everyone is frightened of something ... it's just bad luck that your fear is put out here in the open." Luke leaned down further. "If the other cadets had to overcome a fear like yours, half of them would still be back at the starting line. But you've nearly reached the end. Being brave doesn't mean not being afraid. It means doing things in spite of your fear. That's what my Uncle Owen used to say."

"Everyone is staring at us," Lamber said, miserably.

"Forget them," Luke said. "Want to know a secret?"

Lamber looked up. Almost instinctively, he climbed up another rung, just so he could hear Luke better.

"I'm terrified of the dentist," Luke admitted. "Last time I went, my father had to hold my hand."

" _Your_ father ... held your hand?" Lamber said. He broke into a grin. "You're kidding."

Luke shook his head. "I'm serious. I'm fine with heights, but one whiff of that dentist smell and I'm a wreck. Don't tell anyone."

Lamber nodded. "No one would believe me anyhow."

His voice was sounding a lot stronger.

"You know," Luke said, looking across the ladder. "Once you get over the ladder, it's all downhill. If you really want to get back on the ground, I think it would be quicker to come this way than try and reverse down the net."

"I'm coming," Lamber said, climbing higher. "Just keep distracting me. It really helps."

"What's your favorite holovid show?" Luke asked, shuffling down the ladder to give Lamber room to climb up.

"Galaxy's Scariest True Stories," Lamber said. "How about yours?"

"Depends on my mood," Luke said. "Galactic Bandits is always good. I love the way every episode is set on a new planet."

"Does your father ever watch the HoloNet?" Lamber asked, crawling along the ladder.

"Only the news," Luke said. "He calls everything else mindless entertainment."

"My dad says the same thing," Lamber said. "Except for the sports channels. He barely moves from the couch when it's nunaball season."

Luke laughed. He swung himself down onto the rope and left room for Lamber to join him. His teammate had stopped again, but this time it wasn't because he was afraid.

"Stars, I did it! I'm over the ladder!" Lamber grinned, rubbing his forehead. He then became serious and glanced at his chrono. "We've got one minute to get to that finish line."

They still had to run across another log and jump over a gap, but there was no stopping Lamber now. Luke had to run to keep pace with him. When they finally skidded over the finish line, the rest of Team Loyalty broke into loud cheers and applause.

Lieutenant Tancher put a swift end to that.

"Coming last is nothing to applaud," he said, striding up and waving a finger in Zev's face. "Next time, your team will do it in twenty minutes or I'll really give you something to scream about."

He turned away and addressed the whole group.

"Congratulations to Team Sacrifice, the winning and indeed the only team to finish in fifteen minutes."

Team Sacrifice began to cheer, while the rest of them gave subdued applause.

"Now line up in your teams! You will all jog around the lake twice, and then head back to camp to get cleaned up!"

The lieutenant blew his whistle, and Luke jogged slowly after his team, thinking it was a bit rough to make them run after they'd just worn themselves out on the obstacle course. The rest of them obviously felt the same way, as it was a very leisurely jog.

"Did you see Torture's face as you and Lamber skidded over the finish line?" Havy asked, falling back to jog beside Luke. "I wish I'd brought a holocamera."

"I wasn't looking, but I can guess," Luke said, with a smirk.

"He looked like he really wanted to disqualify us but couldn't think of a good reason why."

Luke chuckled for a moment, and then became serious as he noticed a member of Team Sacrifice had fallen back. It was the same person who'd been smirking at him before the race. He looked around, and then jogged up beside Havy.

"Hey, Upworth, how did your team get saddled with another weakling?"

"How does your team manage to come first when you're dragging so much ego around?" Havy asked.

"Seriously, your team has the worst luck," the cadet said. "But I'm not complaining. My girlfriend will be impressed when I tell her I beat Vader's son in an obstacle race."

Luke felt a sudden blaze of anger. "I could beat you any day of the week!"

The cadet looked over in surprise, obviously unaware Luke was on Havy's other side. In an instant, the surprise disappeared.

"You could beat me? At what? Being short?"

Luke stopped jogging, and started moving towards the cadet, but Havy held him back.

"Ignore him, he's just jealous."

"No, let him go," the cadet said, also stopping. "This is going to be funny."

Luke looked past the cadet, and saw they were not far from the start of the obstacle course.

"Torture is coming over," Zev said, assisting Havy in holding Luke back. At this point, many of the cadets had stopped jogging, and were gathering around in anticipation of a fight.

"You want funny?" Luke asked. "How about your face when I beat you in a one-on-one race on the obstacle course?"

"I could beat you if you had a half hour head start."

"Then prove it," Luke said, pointing at the first wall.

The other cadet hesitated for a brief instant, and then took off at a sprint towards the starting line. Luke shook off his friend's hands, and raced after him. It wasn't until he was actually scrambling up the first wall that he stopped to wonder if he could really do this. But he didn't have a choice—it was his father's reputation on the line here, as well as his own.

Unfortunately, the cadet was older and stronger, and already had a head start.

 _Don't think about it_ , Luke thought, closing his eyes as he ran over the log. The shouts of the other cadets began to fade into the background. There was only himself, his body and the piece of the course directly in front of him. He shimmied through the trench, stirring up clouds of dust. When he came out the other side, he was aware the other cadet had fallen behind. He didn't pause for a second.

At the top of the pole, he cartwheeled over the ladder that made Bo and Lamber so nervous, and slipped down the rope only holding on with his legs. At the final gap, he ran up and did a somersault, landing lightly on the other side. He didn't even know where the other cadet was now, all he knew was that he felt wonderfully alive. He sprinted for the finish line but ended up falling over it. The sudden pain in his knee caused him to come back down to ground quickly. In a moment, Zev was there, dragging him back up.

"Luke? Luke!"

He waved a hand in front of his eyes. Luke frowned, and reached up to shield his face. The gesture caused a sudden stabbing pain in his wrist, and he grabbed it with his other hand.

"Are you okay?"

"Sure," Luke said. "Did I beat that nerfherder?"

"Uh ..." Zev glanced back at the course. "I don't know. No one was watching him."

A shadow fell across Zev's face, and Luke glanced up to find Lieutenant Tancher standing over them. He expected him to be angry, but he seemed almost ... frightened? The expression was gone a moment later.

"Veers, are you blind? He's injured! Take him to the medical bay immediately!"

The lieutenant pointed at Luke's knee. Luke looked down to find blood seeping through his pant leg, just above the top of his boot. He must have tripped on something. He glanced back at the finish line, and saw a sharp tree branch lying a short distance away.

"Come on," Zev said, pulling Luke away.

* * *

They had several medical droids at the camp, and Luke felt they were overly dull for all their supposed bedside manner programming. However, they did do their job, and soon his knee was disinfected and bandaged. The branch must have had a sharp point on it, because the cut was quite deep.

He heard voices outside as the droid rolled away, and he kneeled on the bed in order to see out the window. Commander Hayge was outside, discussing something with Lieutenant Tancher.

"It was amazing, sir ... he was moving more like a moikini than a human. Flipping around like gravity meant nothing. It reminded me of—"

"A Jedi?" the commander finished. "Is that really a surprise, all things considered?"

"I feel we should have been warned about this," the lieutenant said. "What other strange abilities does he have? Is he safe around the other cadets?"

"I will talk to him. You're needed in the dining hall—try and discourage the cadets from discussing this incident."

"Yes, sir."

Luke heard the commander walking up the stairs, and quickly lay down on the bed. Now was his chance. He pulled a blanket over and closed his eyes, pretending to be resting. In a moment, the door slid open and Luke heard the commander enter the room.

"Cadet Skywalker?"

Luke opened his eyes, and then screwed up his forehead. "Hello, sir," he said, trying to sound weak.

"How are you feeling?"

"Not good," Luke said, misery dripping from his voice. He rubbed his wrist, and then sat up so he could rub his knee. "I think I'll have to go home ..."

The commander smiled. "I can't send you back over a cut knee and sprained wrist, but I'm afraid you will no longer be able to participate in any physical activities."

"What?" Luke leapt to his feet. "Oh, come on! I hurt my wrist two weeks ago while I was hover-boarding. This is just a relapse. And the cut happened when I tripped on a tree branch someone had left lying around at the finish line—it didn't even happen on the course."

"I'm sorry, but I can't take any risks with your safety. Your father said he would kill us if you were injured in any way."

Luke waved a dismissive hand. "He's always threatening to kill people. It's just his twisted sense of humor. He's not serious."

The commander raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"What am I supposed to do if I can't join in anything physical?" Luke complained. "Sit on the sidelines and _watch_?"

"Perhaps there are some reading materials in my office that might interest you."

"That sounds even more boring," Luke said, no longer caring about being polite. "Having fun outside is the only thing I like about being here! You _can't_ take that away!"

"I'm sorry, but my word is final on that. Cadet, I have one more question for you."

Luke didn't respond.

"Lieutenant Tancher told me everything that happened. The first time you completed the course, you came last. Why, when you clearly have the ability to beat every other cadet?"

"The first time I was helping my team-mates," Luke said. "Stars, I would have thought that was obvious. Lamber in particular ... the poor guy was terrified of heights. It was cruel to make him do the course in the first place."

"I see," the commander said, distantly. He turned to leave, but Luke spoke up again.

"Sir, if I get hurt, I won't tell my father about it. You don't have to tell him. If he finds out, I'll just say it was my fault."

"If you fall and break your neck, you won't be able to make excuses for us."

"But what about the other cadets?" Luke said. "You let them do the activities!"

"I think the difference between yourself and them is quite clear, Cadet."

Luke made a noise of frustration.

"Please, just remain on the ground," the commander said.

 _I'm always on the ground_ , Luke thought, angrily. _I should change my name to Luke Groundwalker_.

* * *

Vader walked across the bridge that linked the medical wing of the Mustafar fortress, wondering where the droids were. It was strangely deserted. And there was an odd white glow at the edges of his vision. Vaneé was up ahead, wearing a brown robe, not his typical shade. He pointed down into the depths. Vader followed the finger, and found Luke was hanging off a rope, attempting to rappel down to the level below.

"Luke!" He knew it had been a mistake to turn off those safety barriers. He quickly moved to pull him back up, but no matter how much rope he dragged up beside him, Luke never seemed to get closer.

"Luke, climb back up at once!" he called.

His son looked up and smirked at him. "I'm not Luke. Can't you tell us apart yet?"

"Lord Vader, do you require some assistance in controlling your children?"

Vader looked up, and found 'Vaneé' wasn't Vaneé at all, but his former Jedi Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The shock caused the rope to slip from his hands, and the Luke-clone screamed, but someone else dived from behind, barely grabbing the end of the rope before it fell over the edge.

"Don't worry! I've got you!" he called.

Vader was about to thank the stranger, when the man stood up beside him, tying the rope around his belt, just in front of his lightsaber. He turned to face him, an arrogant smirk on his face. It was ... _himself_. No, not himself, but a twenty year old Anakin Skywalker, fully dressed in his Jedi robes.

"I don't have _children_!" Vader insisted, turning back to Obi-Wan. "I have one child. _One_!"

Someone tugged at his cape, and he looked down to find another Luke had appeared beside him.

"Dad, Luke3 flew off in your Naboo starfighter. I want to fly it too. Can I? Pleeease?" The Luke pointed out the window, and Vader looked up to find a starfighter streaking erratically past, nearly careening into the fortress wall.

Something triggered in his memory at that point. Clones of Luke ... he was dreaming!

"Poor man," Obi-Wan said, turning to Anakin. "Imagine having to raise five identical Skywalkers. Raising one of you was hard enough ... I would have gone insane if they'd been five of you."

"Don't worry, I'd have gone insane if they'd been five of you too, Master," Anakin said.

"I don't want your pity!" Vader said, angrily, reaching automatically for his lightsaber. He found it was gone. A quick look around revealed another clone of Luke swinging it around near the entrance to the library.

"He doesn't deserve pity," Anakin said, folding his arms. "He knows he can only blame himself for Luke's adventurous streak. It comes from our side of the family."

"Padmé was hardly sedate," Vader protested.

"She married us," Anakin agreed. "That was reckless if anything was."

"Stop talking," Vader said. "You don't exist." He pointed at Obi-Wan. "And you are dead."

He turned to go and retrieve his lightsaber from the Luke clone, but the strange white light at the edge of his vision started to become brighter, and soon, he found himself staring at the outer wall of the bacta tank. He immediately triggered the switch to drain the tank and begin the process of reattaching the respirator and his prosthetic limbs. Silly nightmares. Luke clones and Obi-Wan ... what next?

When he was once again fully dressed, he left the medical wing, heading for the conference room near the library. As tempting as it was to simply idle away some hours in the dueling room, he should glance over his daily report from Coruscant, to make sure none of the Moffs had attempted a coup. There was more than one of them who regularly daydreamed about such a scenario.

When he opened his communications inbox, he was met with an entire page of mail. Among them, several days worth of daily reports from the capital. Strange. A quick study of the computer's clock made him lean back in confusion. He'd been in that meditation for days. It was odd Vaneé hadn't disturbed him.

Right on cue, the building's resident Sith academic arrived, bowing as he entered the conference room.

"Good morning, my lord?"

Images of Luke dangling off one of the walkways filled his mind, and he quickly pushed it aside.

"How long was I in meditation?"

"Three days, my lord." He hesitated. "The medical droids did assure me there was no cause for alarm."

Three days. He should be feeling rested after that stint, but who knew how many visions of Luke clones he had been subjected to during that time.

After a moment, Vaneé added, "Luke called from camp shortly after you went under. He only had a short amount of time, but he wanted to leave a message for you."

This was a surprise. He expected at least a week to pass before his son's anger had receded to a degree where he was actually willing to speak to him.

"How is he?"

Vaneé looked thoughtful. "He appeared in good health."

"I expected as much. He needs to be outdoors and with people his own age."

"He did express a desire to be reunited with you here."

"He always has had an overactive imagination," Vader said, standing up and going to the window. "Have you heard from the bounty hunter?"

"Not yet. I will inform you the moment I do."

"Good," Vader said, waving him away.

* * *

"Something wrong?" Zev asked, as Luke crawled into the tent and started shoving his belongings aside.

"Obstacle courses are out, kayaking is out, swimming is out. Everything is out except reading some of the commander's books!"

Luke sunk onto his sleeping bag and buried his face in the pillow.

"That _is_ bad," Zev agreed. "His books are full of propaganda."

"I don't know what that is, but it sounds boring," Luke mumbled. "By the way, what do you know about Jedi?"

"Enough to know you move like one," Zev said, carefully.

"How did I move?" Luke asked, sitting up.

"Like ... I don't know, but I've seen hundreds of cadets complete that obstacle course, and no one could do it like that. It was like the obstacles meant nothing to you."

"I'm on the gym team at school," Luke explained. "That's all." He paused for a moment, and then continued. "I know next to nothing about Jedi. My father used to be one, but he doesn't talk about that. But he says the Sith are like the Jedi, only more powerful."

"What do you want to know?" Zev asked, quietly.

"Everything," Luke said, also lowering his tone. "Why are we whispering?"

"Because Jedi are considered enemies and traitors of the state," Zev said. "Showing an interest in them is not encouraged."

"I'm not interested in all the politics," Luke said. "I just want to understand who they were. They were supposed to be so powerful, yet they were all killed."

"Many people, like my father, believe the Jedi deserved to be murdered," Zev said, sounding a little ashamed. "He said they tried to kill the Emperor and take over the galaxy. But when I read about all the good things they did, I can't believe they were evil. Their philosophy makes a lot of sense to me. I apply it to my own life."

"Like what?" Luke said, interested.

"They rejected feelings of anger, hate, jealousy and greed. I know if I gave in to hating my father, it would destroy me. Sometimes I can't help but feel angry, but nothing good ever comes of it. My father, on the other hand, takes enjoyment from hating the Rebels. It's made him cold."

"Wow," Luke said. "Boy, has my father done a complete turnaround. He's like the anger capital of the galaxy."

"Don't tell him that you heard any of this from me," Zev said, sounding nervous.

"Don't worry, I won't get within fifty meters of my father with a conversation like this."

There was silence for a moment, while Luke mulled over everything he'd learned. The subject of the Force was a touchy one between him and his father. For once, the reluctance to talk about it wasn't coming from his father's side, but from his own. His father had always been willing to answer any questions he had, and it was one of the few subjects he enjoyed talking about. But those conversations always seemed to move on to talk of power and a future Luke wasn't sure he wanted to be part of. His father always stressed that his Force sensitivity had marked him for a galaxy-changing destiny.

But he had also made clear that any powers he had were only potential at the moment, and training was required before they could be put to any use. So what of today's incident? It made him both angry and frightened. Angry at the idea that maybe his father hadn't been entirely truthful with him, yet also frightened at the thought that maybe he had. The latter would mean the mysterious condition he had inherited was not behaving as it was meant to. At any rate, he wasn't going to ask his father. He would rather not know.

Luke became aware that Zev was staring at him in an odd way.

"Do _you_ have Force powers?" his friend asked, suddenly. "Just like your father? Can you move things around without touching them?"

"No," Luke said, lying back on his sleeping bag. He rolled over to face the tent wall. "I'm drained. 'Night."

* * *


	7. Chapter 7

As it turned out, any physical activities were off the agenda for all the cadets the next day. Luke first became aware of a strange pattering sound on the tent roof in the early hours of the morning. It confused him at first, until he crawled sleepily over to the tent opening and found a growing puddle of water below where they'd left a small space for air. It still felt so odd that water just fell out of the sky on some worlds. He sealed the tent completely and went back to sleep.

When Zev's alarm went off, it was clear the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon. If anything, it was heavier. There was so much mud and water outside, they had to wear boots and rain shields just to walk the short distance to the refreshers.

"Does this mean we get a day off?" Luke asked, jumping over a puddle.

"No," Zev said. "It means we're going to spend the day in the classroom."

Commander Hayge took the morning session. In anticipation of sleep-inducing boredom, Luke had brought in a pillow from the tent, and had purposely sat in a seat in the back row. As it turned out, he didn't need to use it. The subject was snub fighter combat, something that fascinated him no end. He ended up asking the most questions.

He was still talking excitedly about the last battle they had studied over lunch, causing Zev to hint politely that he was trying to read. He found a more willing audience in Commander Hayge, who stopped him on his way back from returning the pillow to the tent.

"I noticed you enjoyed my class, Cadet," he said, standing under the shelter to avoid the rain.

Luke nodded. "I want to be a pilot myself someday."

"Ah, like your father. I seem to recall you told me you had no plans for your life."

Luke shrugged. "I do have a few. Be a pilot, fly everywhere and see the galaxy."

"I have many databooks on piloting if you'd like to borrow them. I was a reconnaissance pilot for a good many years, until I moved on into command."

"I'd like that," Luke said. "My father won't teach me to fly. Yet, anyhow. He says I'm too immature."

"Well, you have a good many years ahead of you," the commander said, patting his shoulder as he walked on past him.

Luke stared after him for a moment, and then walked on towards the conference room they were assigned to for the afternoon. The commander was taking an interest in him, beyond that he took in the other cadets. Was it because he genuinely liked him, or was it because of his father? It was one of the things Luke found endlessly frustrating about his parentage.

He entered the conference room, and found most of the cadets were already seated. He made his way over to the row occupied by Team Loyalty, and took a seat between Zev and Bo. It didn't take a mind probe to figure out something was wrong.

"What's happening?" Luke said, staring down the row. The cadets were resting with their heads on their elbows or lying flat on the desks.

"Torture is supervising," Zev explained.

When the lieutenant finally entered, he was carrying a holovid tape. He didn't look at the cadets. Instead, he proceeded straight to the machine to load up the tape, but the cadets straightened up anyway. As he turned around, the big overhead screen lit up behind him.

"This training vid lasts for eighty minutes," he said. "Afterwards, there will be a test, so pay attention!"

He took a seat at the side, and then fast-forwarded the datatape on to the start of the film.

"Please be about starfighters," Luke whispered.

Huge letters filled the screen. PACIFICATION.

"I've seen this one," Zev sighed.

There was some ominous music over the credits, which Luke vaguely recognized as an Imperial battle song. Finally, a stormtrooper stepped in from the left, and began an introduction.

"Welcome, fellow subjects of the Emperor. I am KB-639 and today we're going to learn about the process of pacification. Haven't you ever wondered how the Empire manages to turn worlds like this—"

There was a cut to wide shots of a barren desert. Luke thought he recognized Tatooine.

"—to worlds like this?"

The image changed to a planet bustling with factories, farms and smiling people.

"Today, we're going to find out. It all starts in the Imperial Senate ..."

Luke felt his eyes glazing over, and he stared out the window. The rain was still pouring down. It never rained for this long on Coruscant. He sighed, wishing he hadn't been so hasty about returning that pillow to the tent. He could use it right now.

A formation of TIE Fighters flew across the screen, and Luke began daydreaming about flying. Maybe his father was out there flying right now. Maybe he would let him have his own ship one day. Even better, maybe he would let him have his own custom-built starfighter, just like his. Luke spent a good twenty minutes mentally designing such a ship, until he was distracted by a sudden change in voice on the film.

"Primitive natives are often fiercely territorial." It was some kind of scientist. "They will willingly die rather than adapt to a better environment."

The stormtrooper host returned, now standing in the middle of a vast forest.

"For this reason, it is often better to remove all the natives before establishing an Imperial outpost. These forests used to be home to a species of parasitical cannibals that disrupted the food chain. Now, thanks to the efforts of the brave men and women in squadron 560, these forests have become the primary source of valuable minerals and the home of more than five thousand Imperial citizens."

"Where do they put the natives after removing them?" Luke asked Zev. "Do they put them on another planet?"

"Remove means slaughter," Zev whispered back.

Luke was surprised. He glanced from the screen to Zev a few times, and then said, "Seriously?"

Suddenly, the film froze. The lieutenant stood up and turned to stare directly at them.

"Cadet Veers, would you care to share your opinion with the rest of us?"

Everyone turned around to stare at Zev.

"I ... uh ... it was nothing, sir. I was just explaining ... what they were saying, sir."

"I will see you in my office, first thing after class. Does anyone else have anything to say?"

The other cadets were deathly silent. But Luke just couldn't help himself.

"I was just asking him a question," Luke said. "I didn't understand what they meant by removing the natives. Zev explained it to me."

The lieutenant stared at him for a moment, and Luke could feel the tension increasing. Bo was shuffling uncomfortably like he wanted to hide under the desk.

"And how did Cadet Veers explain it?" he asked, with a hard edge to his voice.

Luke opened his mouth to reply, but then hesitated. He glanced at Zev, looking for some guidance. Zev answered for him.

"I said they kill them, sir."

"And do you think that is a good idea, Cadet Veers?"

Zev looked sick, but he nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

"I _don't_ ," Luke interrupted. "That's terrible. Invading someone's planet and killing everybody is wrong. How can they possibly justify that? This film is a big pile of bantha—"

"Cadet Skywalker," the lieutenant said, firmly.

"Well, it is," Luke said. "Can't we watch something else? Something with some starfighter action?"

"What we are watching is not open for discussion."

"Why not?"

There was a tense silence for a few seconds. The lieutenant seemed at a loss to know how to reply. Luke sat back in his seat, folding his arms. Bo was staring at him with a mix of awe and apprehension, while Zev was rubbing his forehead like he'd just driven a speeder into a tree.

"Cadet Skywalker," the lieutenant said, finally, "may I have a word with you outside?"

Luke hesitated for a moment, and then stood up. Everyone in the room stared at him as he walked down the side of the room towards the door.

The lieutenant watched him until he was beside the door, and then turned to the rest of the class.

"If I hear one cough out of any of you, that person will be joining Cadet Veers in my office after class."

He set the film going again, and then joined Luke outside. He gestured for Luke to follow him as he walked further away from the classroom door. When he turned to face him, Luke folded his arms, preparing to start arguing again. This officer may be a cold-hearted bully, but he had nothing on his father when it came to intimidation.

When he spoke, he sounded more weary than angry. "Cadet," he said, calmly, "I have the greatest respect for your father, and I know he will have taught you loyalty to our Emperor. I am going to assume that you were only trying to cause a stir, and you didn't really mean what you said."

"Of course I meant it," Luke said. "Invading someone's planet and killing people is wrong."

"What the film was trying to explain is that sometimes you have a group of people on a planet who are detrimental to the Imperial cause. They have their own agenda that is in conflict with the goals of the Empire. The only option is to remove them."

"Couldn't there be another way?" Luke said. "A way which didn't involve killing? Maybe the Empire could sign a treaty with native groups so they could both use the planet."

"The Empire signs many treaties with peaceful people. Unfortunately, there are those in the galaxy who will spread disorder and chaos wherever they are. Do you think the Rebel terrorists would ever sign a treaty with the Empire?"

"I don't know," Luke sighed. "Look, Zev was just answering a question that _I_ asked him. Why is he the one in trouble and not me?"

"You are in trouble. That is why we are talking out here."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "Believe me, I have been in trouble. And this is not it."

The lieutenant relented. "Cadet Veers has allowed himself to be led astray by liberal academics and their pretentious theories. He is a Rebel sympathizer who needs to be taught a lesson."

"A Rebel what?"

"Next time you have a question about the workings of the Empire, ask myself or one of the other officers. Cadet Veers will distort the truth."

"But he was the one who told me the truth," Luke said. "It was the film that was trying to sugarcoat things."

"He told you the truth the way the Rebels want you to believe it."

"I don't care about the Rebels," Luke said, becoming impatient. "All I'm saying is that I was the one who asked Zev a question, so he shouldn't be in trouble for answering it. Why are you always picking on him? It's not fair! If you want to punish someone, then punish me instead!"

The lieutenant sighed, and straightened his hat.

"Your friend Veers is traveling down a very dangerous road. He requires a firm hand to keep him on the straight and narrow. If you truly wish to defend him, you will let him face the consequences of his actions. That is all I have to say on the matter. Now, come on back inside."

Luke stood firm. "I'm not watching any more of that boring film."

"Then spend the afternoon alone in your tent, if you prefer."

Luke turned and walked off without another word. The lieutenant stared after him for a moment, and then Luke heard him return to the classroom.

He felt guilty, and more than a little angry. He should never have spoken to Zev in the first place. He should have known Torture would jump on him. The thought that he might be subjected to some sadistic punishment in the lieutenant's office made him feel sick. Stars, he was starting to loathe this place. How much longer could he stand it? Luke stomped in a few puddles on his way back to the tent, not caring if he made his uniform dirty.

Eventually, he passed the administrative block, and came to a halt. Commander Hayge's office was in here. Havy had said he was fair. Maybe he should tell him about what happened with Zev. And he could ask him about trying again to speak to his father. He was just about ready to get down on his knees and beg him to take him back.

He climbed up the stairs, and walked past a deactivated protocol droid. The door to the commander's office was already open, and he could see him working at his desk inside. He looked up when Luke came into view.

"Uh, sir, can I talk to you for a minute?" Luke asked.

"Of course, Cadet."

Luke walked into the office, and sat in one of the chairs. Perhaps it was best to start with the less-controversial topic first.

"I was wondering ... I know we're only supposed to use the comlink on the weekends, but I didn't manage to talk to my father last time. I was wondering if I could try calling him now."

"At any other time you could, Cadet, but this bad weather has disrupted communications. It should have passed over by tomorrow."

"Oh," Luke said, sadly. This day was not going in his favor. "I'll try tomorrow, then."

"I thought you were all with Lieutenant Tancher this afternoon," the commander remarked, glancing out the window. "Did he let you go early?"

"Uh, not exactly." This was a good segway into the other item on his agenda. "I … uh ... he let me leave because ... I didn't like the film we were watching. It was supposed to be about pacification, but it really seemed to be about invading planets."

"Most worlds are grateful for the Empire's assistance, Cadet. I know it seems difficult to imagine, when you live in an orderly place like Coruscant, but there is much conflict in the galaxy."

Luke sighed. Adults always had the same answers.

"I asked Zev what happened to the native populations who are relocated by the Empire," Luke said, pressing on. "Zev gave me an answer, but then Lieutenant Tancher stopped the film and told Zev he had to go to his office after class. I don't think it's fair that he's in trouble when I was the one who asked him a question."

"That doesn't sound fair," Commander Hayge agreed. "But perhaps you don't have a full understanding of the situation, Cadet. Cadet Veers is a bright young man and we all want to see him do well. Unfortunately, due to past difficulties in his life, he sometimes shows problematic behaviours. What he needs is firm boundaries enforced with consistent discipline, something we strive to provide here at the camp. He will appreciate that we took the time, one day."

"How does hitting him with a punishment stick help him do well?" Luke asked, hearing his tone reflect his growing frustration.

Commander Hayge actually smiled. "Don't believe everything the other boys tell you, Cadet. They all like to tell stories, but the truth is, corporal punishment is employed very rarely and only in the most serious cases."

For a moment, Luke began to wonder if maybe Havy had just been messing around with the 'newbie', just like Crepes, but then he remembered the evidence.

"That's not true," Luke said. "I saw marks on Zev when we were showering."

"You likely mistook some minor injuries obtained on the rope course. All the lieutenants here are professionals with years of experience in training cadets."

Luke sighed, seeing this was a lost cause. The commander was either in a state of denial or he just didn't care.

But, then, he added, "If this is upsetting you, I'll have a chat with Lieutenant Tancher about it. Ensure Cadet Veers is being treated fairly."

"Thank you, sir," Luke said, realizing that was the best he could hope for.

"I understand you two who have been getting on well. I'm glad he's found a friend … Force knows, he could use some. Perhaps you'll be a good influence on him."

Luke could sense nothing but genuine care in the commander's tone, and he found himself smiling back. Then, he remembered something else. "You said earlier that you had some databooks on piloting—would it be okay if I borrowed them now? I need something to do for the rest of the afternoon."

"Certainly, you will find the library right across the hall," the commander said, pointing. "They're organized by subject, so try under flight techniques."

The library was well-stocked, and it only took Luke a few minutes to gather a stack of interesting databooks. As he rested them on the table, with the intent to sort them into a more manageable pile, he noticed there was a holoprojector sitting in an open drawer. It was none of his business, and probably something private, which made it near irresistible. He looked around to make sure he was alone, and then picked it up.

It hummed and then lit up with a bright holographic display. Luke studied it for a moment, and then understanding came quickly. It was a map of the campsite and surrounding area, similar to the type they'd used during the orienteering class. Just as he was starting to pinpoint recognizable parts of the camp, he heard a noise behind him and quickly shut it off. He turned around, and saw it was just the protocol droid wandering past the door.

Luke pocketed the map, and picked up his stack of databooks. His afternoon was starting to look a whole lot better.

* * *

Vader had avoided any deep meditation since his three-day mishap. At any rate, he felt fully rested and alert, more so than he'd felt in weeks. Perhaps that was the cause of all those silly dreams. Simple weariness. This break from Luke was probably doing them both a lot of good.

But he couldn't help but wonder about the boy. Luke hadn't called again, and he was determined not to call the camp himself. The Force would alert him if Luke found himself in danger, so he had to trust the officers to take care of his son.

In the meantime, he attempted to distract himself. Reading fleet reports and exercising with dueling droids filled some hours. There was no end of engineering projects in the ship hangar to work on. But it wasn't until he approached a work bench and began dismantling an engine that it occurred to him he was now used to having Luke by his side when he worked on something like this. Teaching him his tricks for adjusting an engine to get as much speed as possible. How every single part of a ship, even the overlooked circuits, all contributed to the overall performance.

Before Luke, there had been no one to share his discoveries with. No one to express joy and enthusiasm when a new prototype starfighter was delivered to the hangar. No one to amuse him with his unorthodox new droid designs.

Vader considered it for a moment, and then wondered what Vaneé would think if he asked him to call the palace and have Artoo and Threepio shipped over.

It was a very welcome distraction when Vaneé entered the work room, carrying a portable holo projector.

"Boba Fett, my lord."

 _Thank the Force_ , Vader thought. He placed the projector on the bench and activated it immediately.

"Fett. How goes your hunt?"

"Lord Vader. Captain Flenn had fled by the time I reached his residence. Seems I was five hours too late."

The meaning was clear to Vader. Luke's so-called adventurous streak was having far-reaching consequences.

"Fled where? To the Rebellion?"

"Yes. But I have some good news. The ship he is on will be taking on supplies at a certain location at a certain time in the very near future."

"How do you know this?" Vader asked, suspicious.

"Their freight-hauler is an independent for hire. Not above selling information."

"What guarantee do you have of the accuracy of this information?"

"None. But my contact thinks I needed the information only to make a capture myself. She also knows misleading me will be worth her life. Besides, at worst you will only wait in empty space for a few hours for a ship that isn't coming. At best, you will get your stolen ship back and a crew full of Rebels. Sounds like good odds to me."

"Especially considering, if we succeed, you will gain the market bounty for every Rebel we capture or kill," Vader said, dryly.

"And the ship," Fett said. "Don't forget the reward for the ship."

* * *

Zev returned to the tent half an hour before dinner. He had to step carefully over the commander's databooks, which had leaked onto his side of the tent. Luke hastily gathered them up.

"Sorry about what happened," he said, quickly. "How did it go?"

Zev looked thoughtful, and then said, "It could have been worse."

"So he didn't use the punishment stick?"

Zev's lack of surprise at his question assured Luke the story Havy had told him had been the truth.

"No. Which isn't like him at all. But he told me I'm on thin ice and this is the only chance he'll give me when it comes to your safety."

"My safety," Luke said, rolling his eyes. "Like telling me the truth puts me in danger."

"In their mind, it does," Zev said, sinking down onto his sleeping bag. He lay on his back, arms folded behind his head.

"I've been reading this book about the Clone Wars from the commander's library," Luke said, holding it up. "I thought I should do some more research into what we were talking about the other night."

Zev glanced over, suddenly nervous. "You didn't tell the commander we were talking about the Jedi, did you?"

"Of course not," Luke said.

"Good, because Torture said I'm not allowed to mention anything political to you again. He said you've been misled, and your father is going to want to know where you picked up your ideas."

"No, he isn't," Luke said. "He doesn't care about my ideas about the Empire—he just says everything will make sense when I'm older."

"Your father doesn't care if you aren't supportive of the Empire?" Zev said, gaping. "But he's ... the supreme commander of the military. He's the Emperor's liaison with the Moffs. Stars, he helped Palpatine make it the Empire in the first place."

Luke shrugged. "He doesn't take any of my opinions seriously, whether about the Emperor or about what color to paint a speeder. He just thinks I'm a child."

"Still ... my father would rather I was anything but disloyal to the Emperor. He could handle deranged murderer better than traitor."

"I don't know if my father is completely loyal to the Emperor himself," Luke said. "He's never said anything, but I know he disagrees with some of his decisions. I know they disagreed strongly about me."

"Why?" Zev said, looking more interested than Luke had ever seen him. Luke wondered if he really should be divulging this, but he couldn't go back now.

"The Emperor did not want me to live with my father."

"I guess he sees you as a threat."

Luke nodded.

"It must be interesting," Zev said, lying back. "Living in the heart of the Empire ... seeing all the most important decisions being made around you. Knowing you'll be part of it all one day."

"I don't notice," Luke said. "Maybe you should come and stay with me sometime, and you'll see how boring it can get. And my father wonders why I have accidents." Luke looked back at his databook.

Zev grinned. "What's that?" he said, pointing at a rotating hologram.

"A map of the whole planet," Luke said. "Did you know there's an old abandoned spaceport about five kilometers from here?"

"It's not abandoned," Zev said.

"It says on the map it is."

"Crepes saw a ship landing out there with some macro-binoculars. He and Havy tried to sneak over to the girl's camp, and they saw it from the top of a hill. An officer said Imperial freight-haulers sometimes use it to make temporary landings."

"Has anyone ever been over there to explore it?"

Zev smiled. "Don't even think about it, Luke. Torture would end up breaking his punishment stick on me if you did that."

Luke cringed, seeing Zev's point. "I'm sorry. It must be so humiliating."

Zev shrugged. "I'm used to it. I've been familiar with Imperial military discipline since I was eleven years old. It's the same philosophy as their pacification process." He frowned then, clearly remembering something unpleasant.

"Did your father punish you like that?" Luke asked. It was a sensitive question, but he hoped Zev knew he was asking out of empathy.

Surprisingly, Zev shook his head. "I know this sounds weird … but honestly, I wouldn't mind if he did. Because … that's attention, you know? Negative attention, but still attention. Instead, he outsources all his parenting to places like this."

This was all striking a little too close to home for Luke. If he was really honest with himself … were some of those 'accidents' at the palace really his attempt to attract attention from his father? Even the negative kind? He hated it when his father lectured him, but perhaps there was a small part that also liked the fact that he'd stirred an emotional reaction. That liked the feeling that he'd managed to make him think about something other than the Empire.

That's why being sent here had hurt so much. It was the ultimate confirmation of his biggest fear … that his father really didn't want to be his father. That he really was a burden. Zev's relationship with his father sounded so broken … but was it really so far removed from the trajectory he and his father were on? Perhaps his father was already thinking that he'd enrol him in military camp for his next school vacation as well.

Zev misinterpreted his expression. "How about your father? I've heard a few stories about how he maintains discipline among the officers. It can't be easy for you."

Now that Zev had made him think about it, Luke found himself feeling a little embarrassed to admit it really wasn't hard at all.

"When I first moved in, he was completely clueless about being a parent," Luke said. "He actually assigned a droid to mind me, like a toddler. I was twelve years old!"

Zev smiled.

"I did have a few … incidents. The kind of thing that my uncle would have tanned my hide for, or, at the very least, grounded me. But he just got angry about it. Often he'd yell at me and then say I was trying his patience and he needed to be alone. But then he got more experienced and I think my doctor gave him some advice, because he was more calm about it all, and he'd ground me or cut my HoloNet access for a bit. Once I came in after my curfew, so he made my curfew earlier for a while until I could prove I was being responsible about it."

"Wow," Zev said, looking baffled at this information. "So he's like … a normal parent?"

Luke smirked. "I wouldn't go that far. He does do something which is like a running joke between us, where if I say something rude, or do something he doesn't approve of, he'll use the Force to throw something at me, aiming for my butt. But he usually gives me time to jump out of the way. It's his way of letting me know I've gone too far. But he doesn't do that if I've really made him angry. It's like he doesn't trust himself when he's angry … like he's scared of what he might do. So he goes away and then will come back when he's calmed down. At least, that's my understanding. He won't talk about what he's feeling."

Zev was still looking vaguely bemused by all this.

"But all that changed when summer vacation started," Luke said, bowing his head. "I don't know. He was getting angry about everything … even things that I swear weren't that bad. And he didn't punish me at all … it was like we'd gone back to the old days, when all he did was yell. I thought things had gotten better after we built a droid together, but then I had another accident, and suddenly he's saying I have to go." Luke's voice broke on the last word, and he struggled to get a hold on his emotions. He didn't want to really break down around Zev.

"Don't worry," Zev said, sounding sympathetic. "It gets easier as you get older. If they don't care about you, then you have to train yourself not to care about them."

It was such a depressing sentiment. Was that really the only option left now? That he should give up and just get used to this?

"We better go eat," Zev said, sitting up.

"Yeah," Luke agreed, trying to push his feelings aside. Maybe this rain would clear up and things would seem better in the morning.

When he took his place at the Team Loyalty table in the mess hall, he immediately knew the meal wasn't going to be a good distraction. The other members of Team Loyalty were still talking about the incident with Lieutenant Tancher. Luke did not want to relive it. Neither did Zev, but Havy was having too much fun to pay attention to their reluctance.

"I loved it when Luke said 'why not?'" he said, filling up his water glass. "The expression on Torture's face was priceless. He really wanted to yell but he knew he couldn't."

"I liked it when he said that invading someone's planet and killing people is wrong," Lamber said. "I wish I could say that and get away with it."

"I wish Torture had lost his temper," Crepes said. "I wish he'd just snapped and told Luke to get out."

"He did tell me to get out," Luke said, pushing vegetables around his plate.

"No. He politely asked you to have a word outside. I mean I wish he'd really snapped and told you to go to his office immediately."

"Thanks a lot," Luke said, frowning.

"I don't mean that," Crepes explained. "I mean, if he used the punishment stick on you, your father would strangle him and we'd be rid of him."

Luke choked on his vegetables and coughed some of them back onto his plate.

"You think I'd tell my father about something like that?!" Luke said, when he was able.

"I would, if Lord Vader was my father," Crepes said. "I'd get him to choke everyone I didn't like. Why, don't you?"

"You Hutt-faced sleemo!" Luke said, losing his temper. It had been a frustrating day, and it was taking its toll. "Torture's a pain, but I don't want him dead!"

"Hey, relax!" Crepes said.

"You think I like the idea of my father going around killing people?!" Luke found himself standing up, but he didn't remember when he'd done so.

Everyone at the nearby tables had fallen silent at this point. Some had stood up to get a better view. Havy and Zev were staring at him in surprise, while Bo had shifted back from the table.

"Sorry, but I thought you'd be used to that kind of thing," Crepes said, looking nervous. "Your father must have strangled hundreds of—"

"You know _nothing_ about my father!" Luke said, pointing at Crepes, who hastily stood up. "Shut up before _I_ strangle you!"

Crepes took a step backward, but bumped into someone behind him. Luke looked up to find Torture had appeared, right on cue. That was the _last_ thing he needed.

"Is there a problem?" he asked, completely oblivious.

Luke didn't trust himself to respond in any way resembling politeness, so he simply slumped down into his seat. Stars, he was starting to lose it. This place was slowly but surely crushing him.

"Just a minor disagreement, sir," Havy said, his voice shaking slightly. "It's over now."

"A minor disagreement about what?" He walked around the table until he was standing next to Zev, who was sitting in his usual spot at the other end. "Cadet Veers, explain to me what your teammates were arguing about!"

"Uh ..." Zev looked blank. "Sir, I ... I wasn't really paying attention."

"You never pay attention to your surroundings. That is precisely the problem here, Cadet. The commander assigned you to watch out for Cadet Skywalker, not to sit there daydreaming. I will see you in my office after dinner."

It was the final straw for Luke. "You're blaming him?" he whispered, incredulous. He spoke louder, so the officer could hear him. "You're blaming him because I was arguing with someone else? I don't _believe_ you!"

He didn't receive any reply for a few seconds, and he once again felt everyone was staring at him. People had stopped eating, and knives and forks remained poised in mid-air as people waited to see how this confrontation would turn out.

"Cadet, perhaps you need an early night," the lieutenant suggested.

"Arg!" Luke cried, kicking the table. He stormed off, pushing past people in his way until the door of the mess hall came into sight. Once he was outside, he started running, although the wet muddy grass made for slow progress. He couldn't even see properly, he was so angry. Was this how his father felt when he was frustrated? He just wanted to break something ... anything would do.

He came to a halt next to the row of camp speeders. He tried all of them until he found one that was unlocked, and then he slipped into the pilot's seat. Unfortunately, it was key operated, and he didn't have the right tools to attempt to hotwire it. Instead, he rested his head against the steering controls, and let himself calm down.

Sometimes, it helped to think about why he was angry. Was he angry at Crepes for touching on a very sore point between him and his father? Was he angry at Torture—someone whose life he'd been defending a moment earlier, who had then threatened Zev and patronized him by suggesting he was simply tired? Or was he angry with himself for getting Zev in trouble, once again?

He needed to get away from here.

A nearby voice caused him to look up and stare into the darkness. He could just make out three figures standing at the bottom of the stairs into the administration building. They were talking in hushed, serious tones.

"He was threatening to strangle one of the cadets."

Torture ... he had to be talking to the commander. The second voice confirmed Luke's suspicions.

"Are you sure?"

"I heard him, sir. He was very angry about something, but none of the cadets would tell me what. Not even the one he threatened to choke. I think they're frightened of him."

"Even Veers?"

"Veers claims he wasn't paying attention to their argument, which I can almost believe."

"I've worked with that boy several times, and I can't believe he was angry over nothing." This was a different officer. Luke thought he recognized Lieutenant Robyson, the one also from a desert world. "He is friendly and caring towards the other cadets, even assisting the younger ones when he sees them struggling. Perhaps the older ones were bullying him because of his famous father."

"That's a possibility," The commander said. He was silent for a moment, and then added, "This is a very delicate situation."

"Perhaps I could have a chat with him," Lieutenant Robyson said. "Try and get him to talk about what's happening."

"No need. I already know," the commander said. "He wanted to speak to his father earlier. He _needs_ his father ... it was clear from the first conversation we had that his problem was a lack of parental attention. Just like Veers. No wonder they get on so well."

Luke rolled his eyes. Adults always thought they knew exactly what was wrong, no matter how clueless they were.

"I'll see if the weather had cleared enough to let me contact Lord Vader and discuss the situation," the commander continued. "At the very least, I'll find out whether the other cadets are truly in danger from Skywalker."

Luke was just about ready to step out of the speeder and start hurling abuse in the officers' direction. If the cadets were in danger from anyone, it was Torture, not him! And to add insult to injury, the commander was going to tell his father about all the 'trouble' he'd been causing. He'd never take him back now.

His hand fumbled for the door release, his mind already racing with all the words he was going to defend himself with. The speeder door sprang open, and he stumbled out ... only to find himself nearly standing on another cadet. In a second, he recognized Zev. His teammate pulled him down out of sight.

Luke stared at him in surprise, and then glanced around the edge of the speeder. Torture and the commander had now parted ways, and he could see both the lieutenants walking back to the dining hall. The commander must have returned to his office.

"What are you doing here?!" Luke asked.

"Looking for you," Zev explained. "Torture sent me to check on you. You weren't in the tent. I heard the speeder door slam, so I came over here."

"I don't need 'checking' on," Luke said, bitterly. "Tell him to check on himself."

"Crepes said he was sorry," Zev said, carefully. "I know he's a nerfherder, but sometimes I think he can't help it. He's got some mutated gene which means everything that comes out of his mouth is annoying."

Luke stood up. "I have to go and talk to the commander. He's going to talk to my father, and—"

Zev interrupted him. "I've got a better idea."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Torture won't be expecting me at his office for an hour at least. He'll think I'm with you. So how about we go and visit that spaceport?"

"Zev, I—"

He shrugged, smirking. "Hey, he's going to punish me anyway. Might as well make it worth it. And besides … maybe we'll find a ship there."

"You mean … we could stowaway?!" It felt so good that someone else was having the impulsive ideas for once. "Zev, that's a great idea!"

"Wherever we end up has to be better than here, right?" Zev said, forcefully.

Luke stared into the darkness of the nearby trees for a moment, remembering his father's warning about leading others into danger. This could all go horribly wrong. But despite his lingering doubt, he knew it wasn't even a question of yes or no. He'd wanted to get away from here the moment his father had mentioned it.

"Let's do it," Luke said.

"Do you know how to fly a ship?" Zev asked, curiously.

"Fly a ship? Are you kidding?" Luke said, walking quickly towards their tent. "I can fly anything with an engine. Pack your things—we're leaving!"

Zev joined him, matching his rapid pace. "I don't know what it is about you," he said. "But no matter how crazy you talk, you still inspire me with confidence."

"It's a family trait," Luke said.

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

The Star Destroyer _Harbinger_ was due to arrive at Mustafar in twenty minutes to collect him. Vader was busy preparing his TIE Advanced when Vaneé entered the hangar.

"My lord, Commander Hayge, overseer of the young cadet training camp, has requested a conversation with you."

 _Luke_ ... Vader immediately stretched out, seeking his son's presence. Luke still burned brightly in the Force.

"Very well," Vader said, removing the fuel line and passing it to the assisting droid. He could only hope this was simply a matter of keeping him informed as to Luke's progress, rather than anything serious. But in all honesty, he wouldn't be surprised if Luke had managed to reduce the camp to a smoking crater.

For that reason, he waited until Vaneé had left the hangar before taking the comlink off hold. The officer whom he'd met the day he dropped Luke at the camp appeared, his image flickering a few times, before the building's communications relay managed to strengthen and stabilize the signal.

"Commander Hayge," Vader said, once the image was steady. "Bad weather on Kawai?"

"A storm passed over this morning, sir," the commander confirmed. "Slightly better now."

"How is my son? I trust he has not been causing trouble."

"Not at all, sir. However, we are concerned about him. I must ask you a question, sir. I understand if you consider this none of my business ... sir, does your son possess the same abilities that you do? The power to use the Force?"

Of all the questions Vader had been expecting, that was not one of them.

"What has he done?!"

"Nothing. Yet. Nothing confirmed. He did threaten to strangle one of his teammates."

For a moment, Vader imagined his naive, optimistic son actually reaching the state of mind he himself possessed when crushing someone's trachea. The idea would have been repulsive if it wasn't more than a little ridiculous. Luke could be angry at times, yes, but never for long. He was too steeped in his own love for life.

"He has no power," Vader explained. "He has not been trained. Any threats would have been made in jest."

The commander appeared to visibly relax. "Understood, sir. I believe he is feeling a little claustrophobic today. The cadets have been inside due to the bad weather, and it does not appear to have been to his liking."

"Ask him if he'd rather be living on Tatooine," Vader said. "That question will relieve him of any weather-based melancholy. You can also tell him that I will not be picking him up for another three weeks, so he better get used to it."

"I will pass on your message, sir. He did want to speak to you earlier today, but the weather was too bad. Perhaps he could contact you later on tonight?"

"I will be attending to a sensitive matter for the next two days," Vader said. "He is welcome to send text or a recorded message. If that is all, I must return to more important matters, Commander."

"Yes, sir. Thank you for your time."

Vader cut the call, and passed the comlink to the droid. It was good to know Luke was safe and unharmed. Now he could concentrate on the coming battle without risk of distraction. It was time he sought some hint from the Force as to the outcome of this pending hunt.

* * *

Once he and Zev had reached the lakeside, Luke had led them north along the riverbank. The forest grew thicker and wilder as they moved further away from the campsite. It had been twilight when they'd left, but it was fast becoming dark. The trees were black shapes against a gray sky, and full of the squeaks and chirps of nocturnal animals. Luke had been starting to wonder if following the river was a good idea, but then Zev had spotted a boat, wedged between a couple of dead trees that had fallen into the river. Between them, they managed to drag it free, and they continued on water.

"Is there any chance of finding a waterfall around the next bend?" Luke asked. He was standing at the front of the boat, pushing them along with a stick, while Zev stood at the back.

"You're the one with the map," Zev said.

"There are no waterfalls on the map," Luke said. "It's just in all the stories I've heard, when the heroes are in a boat on a river, there's always a waterfall ahead."

"I think we're moving upstream," Zev said, looking around. "How much further, anyway?"

Luke switched on the map, causing a bright green glow. Night insects instantly buzzed toward it.

"Not far," Luke said. "I think the forest should clear soon."

The boat came to a sudden halt, causing Luke to nearly lose his balance. He tried to push forward, and then realized Zev had jammed his stick in the riverbed.

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you see that? There's a shield in front of us!"

Luke looked ahead. About three meters in front, there was a sudden glow as an insect flew into a shield. It spread across two relay points on either side of the river.

"It's the security shield," Zev said. "I forgot about that. They only turn it on at night ... or maybe they've realized we're missing, and they're out looking for us."

"How deep is the water?" Luke asked. "It can't extend under the water. Maybe we could swim under it."

"I'm not getting in there," Zev said, looking down at the water. "There are probably giant snakes at the bottom."

Luke stared at the murky depths, considering. It didn't look very appealing, but maybe it was just the darkness.

"I'll go first," he said. He was about to jump in, when Zev stopped him.

"Wait! What about our stuff?"

Luke glanced at it, seeing Zev's point. They'd have to take that under as well, and water wouldn't mix well with the locator beacon. Or the map, for that matter.

"Pass me my multi-tool," Luke said. "It's hanging off my backpack. I'll see if I can switch off one of the relays."

"If they're looking for us, that will let them know where we are," Zev said. Despite his concerns, he still handed Luke the multi-tool.

"I don't think they're looking," Luke said, guiding the boat over toward the bank. "I can't sense anyone nearby."

"You can't _sense_ anyone?" Zev enquired.

Luke stepped out onto the bank, and began inspecting the relay. "I can tell when people are near," Luke explained. "They have an effect on the environment. You just have to know what to listen for."

He pried open a panel, and immediately a circuit fell out. It appeared it hadn't been maintained in years, as it was half rusted. This should make things easier.

"When you were angry in the dining hall," Zev said. "The plates around you started to rattle. No one else noticed it, they were too busy staring at you and Crepes."

Luke paused for a moment, thinking, and then resumed working. "Probably just the wind. Or maybe a speeder was flying over."

A spark jumped from the circuit, and suddenly the shield flickered a few times. Luke poked it again, and the shield disappeared across the river.

"Go now," Luke said. "Take the boat through."

Zev did so. As soon as the boat was safely on the other side, Luke reconnected the circuit and stuck it back in its rightful place. The shield shimmered back across the river, forming a barrier between him and Zev.

"How are you going to—?"

"I'll be right there," Luke said, jumping into the water. It was waist-high and freezing. He could feel the water filling his boots, but he tried not to think about it. Instead, he waded over to the shield, and then took a deep breath. Plunging into the dark, murky water was horrible. He shut his eyes tight, held his nose, and waded forward as quickly as possible. When he broke through the water surface, he found he'd overshot the boat.

Zev reached out a hand, and helped drag him back up. The boat rocked back and forth erratically as Luke climbed back in, and Zev had to sit down to avoid falling out. Once he was safely in, Luke did his best to squeeze the water out of his clothes and hair, while Zev pushed the boat onwards.

"The forest is starting to clear," Zev said, finally.

Luke was busy tugging off his left boot. "Watch out for a hill. That's when we need to get out." He turned his boot upside down and poured the water out. Some kind of crab came out too. He hastily did the same with the other boot, not wanting to know what could have found its way in there.

"There's a hill," Zev said, pointing ahead. "Is that it?"

"We're there!" Luke said, excitedly.

Zev guided the boat over to the bank, and they climbed out into the mud. The ground was still waterlogged from the rainstorm earlier that day, and their boots made slurping and squelching noises as they made their way to the base of the nearby hill. It became easier when they reached the grass.

Luke shivered with cold as a gust of wind sliced straight through his wet clothes. He had some spares in his pack, but they didn't have time to stop and change. Zev would look back every minute or so, and Luke knew he was worrying about any unseen pursuers.

"Well, one thing's for sure," Luke whispered, walking closer to Zev. "That spaceport definitely isn't abandoned."

"How can you tell?" Zev asked.

"Listen."

Zev fell silent. There was another gust of wind, and then Luke saw his friend's expression light up. There were voices in the distance. Not the crisp, militaristic voices of the camp officers, but the rough accented basic of run-of-the-mill spacers.

When they reached the top of the hill, they sunk low to the ground, and crawled over to a small bush. The space port was situated in the valley below, lit with a single flood light. It was really just a wide circular landing pad, surrounded by stacks and stacks of crates. There was a small freighter on the tarmac, and three small figures could be seen loading things into the cargo bay.

"Let's stow aboard their ship," Luke whispered.

"You think we can do that without being seen?"

"Sure," Luke said. "No problem. I've done it before."

"What if they see us?"

"They won't. We'll get out at the next spaceport, and find our way from there."

Zev nodded.

"Follow me," Luke said, shuffling along the ground. They made their way around the hill until the ship was between them and the smugglers and then ran quickly down the slope. Zev wanted to stop to see what was in some of the crates, but Luke was determined to get onto the ship quickly. It was a simple design, with loading bays on either side. Both were currently wide open. The starboard side of the ship was already full with crates.

The smugglers were still around the other side, and they could hear them talking loudly. Luke gestured to Zev to stick close, and they crept across the tarmac towards the loading bay. Within a minute, they had nestled in safely between a few crates.

They remained silent for the next few minutes. Luke sensed someone was walking around their side of the ship. The thought briefly crossed his mind that they could be planning to unload all these crates they were hidden amongst, but his thought was cut off by a loud crash, followed by darkness. They had closed the loading bay door.

"I think we made it," Luke whispered.

Zev nodded.

Within ten minutes, they heard the shudder of the engines igniting. It briefly occurred to Luke that maybe he was leading Zev into more trouble than he was leaving, but he pushed the thought away. The last thing they needed right now was doubt.

* * *

Vader stared at a rotating holographic display, not knowing what to make of it. It was not unlike the kind that would hang beside a baby's cradle. A large black bird filled the display, flapping its wings slowly. A smaller yellow bird was in front of it. It played music that sounded like a military march.

"Are you sure you're focusing on the right thing?"

Vader turned to find Obi-Wan had appeared beside him. Vader made a noise of frustration, and turned back to the display. It was trying to tell him something about the coming battle. The larger bird was moving towards the smaller one ... hunting it, perhaps? Destroying it? Was this a vision of success?

The yellow bird shifted then, now beside the black one, flying under its wing. It was clear, then. The black bird was the _Harbinger_ , and the yellow one, the Rebel ship. This mission would be a success.

"Good."

"Don't celebrate too soon."

Vader turned around to find the Anakin apparition had joined them.

"Why?"

"The clones are missing."

"Last time I saw them, they were heading for the Rebel ship," Obi-Wan said.

"I don't care about the clones!" Vader said, turning away. "Good riddance to them!"

"They will continue to haunt you until you acknowledge what they represent," Obi-Wan said, turning to stare out the window.

"They represent a glitch in my life support system," Vader said.

"I think they represent how helpless we feel," Anakin suggested. "It feels like there's nothing we can do to stop Luke from putting himself in danger. It feels like there are five people needing our constant attention."

"I am not helpless," Vader said, snatching his lightsaber.

"You are trying your best," Obi-Wan said.

"I don't try," Vader said, raising the blade to point at the apparition's chest. "I _do_. And I do not fail."

"Words," Anakin said, in a dismissive way. "Why don't you just admit you've lost your parenting confidence? Do you honestly imagine those officers at the camp can do a better job than us?"

Vader sighed, hating the fact that he was right. "How would _you_ have handled Luke's behavior, then?"

Anakin shrugged, and then gestured towards Obi-Wan. "Takes a Kenobi to raise a teenage Skywalker."

"I think you're overthinking this," Obi-Wan said, turning back. "Get back to basics. Establish expectations. Set boundaries. Provide consequences if needed."

"Luke is definitely going to need some consequences after this," Anakin agreed, wandering over to the window.

"How about cleaning out the fuel regulator vents," Obi-Wan suggested.

"That'll do the trick," Anakin agreed. "It's so boring. And doing every ship on Mustafar will take … oh, about two weeks? Then you'll have another week to teach him how to build a maintenance droid that could have done the job for him." He turned back to face Vader. "Because you know that's what he really wants. Quality time with you."

It was a sound plan, Vader had to admit. But he'd had sound plans before. They'd been rendered null and void by teenage Skywalker recklessness.

"What if it doesn't work?" Vader said.

"You think your words don't mean anything to Luke, but they do," Obi-Wan said. "He will learn, just give him time. He's still young. He needs your guidance."

"But we fear he will never reach maturity," Anakin explained. "We've always feared the death of those we love."

Vader was vaguely aware of a headache. Obi-Wan was talking again, but now it didn't sound like him. It sounded like Qui-Gon.

"Why don't you tell Luke that? He wants to understand you better."

"Go away," Vader said. "Go away, all of you."

"He needs your patience."

The last word sounded far in the distance. His vision slowly began to clear. Objects came into focus. The viewport. The conference table. He was in the meeting room on the _Harbinger_. He'd come here after arriving on board, hoping to learn something from the Force about the coming battle. It seemed the Force had other ideas.

He felt a deep rumble shake the floor beneath him. The ship was jumping to hyperspace. If there were any truth to his vision at all, at least this coming battle would be a victory.

* * *

The freighter's hyperspace journey lasted at least two hours. Luke was starting to feel hungry. Unlike Zev, he hadn't eaten dinner, as he'd stormed out after a few mouthfuls. His clothes felt disgusting, halfway between wet and dry. He was still cold, but at least there was no wind in here.

He and Zev took turns playing his flightsim hologame, and then they began playing word games. When they got bored with that, they sat in silence, listening for any sound of the engine slowing.

"It's so ironic," Zev said, finally.

"What is?"

"I've been suffering at military school for years. Years and years. It never occurred to me just to run off and leave. If you'd told me this morning that I'd be here now, I'd have said you were crazy. Now, here we are."

"Here we are," Luke agreed.

"It's just ironic that out of all the people, it was Lord Vader's son that got me out of that place. I don't care if we end up back there—it's worth it, even for just these two hours. I feel great. I feel like someone who's just got out of prison."

The engine hum changed tone, and Luke looked up. "We're coming out of hyperspace."

"So, what's our next move?"

Luke thought for a moment. "Depends on where we are," he said. "They might be just stopping for fuel."

More noises followed, and Luke felt something jolt beneath them.

"That almost sounded like the landing struts," he said.

Ten minutes later, they were thrown against the sides of the crates, and the engines gave one last shudder. Then there was silence.

"Maybe we're on a planet," Zev whispered.

"It was too fast," Luke said. "If we were landing on a planet, there should have been a longer time between hyperspace reversion and landing."

"Fuel station then?"

"I think so."

There was a rattling noise, and a bright light filled the room. Luke and Zev shifted further behind the crates, as it became clear the loading bay door was being opened. A female voice could be heard on the other side.

"Fifty crates on this side. We've got weapons, uniforms, food supplies, medical supplies, and a bunch of holo-comics that Blue Squadron requested. Wait, that might be on the other side. I put a blue sticker on it, anyhow."

A different voice answered her. It sounded non-human.

"You are a miracle worker. I think you've single-handedly assured the survival of the Rebellion in the Mathalar sector."

Luke shared a look with Zev. The Rebellion?

"Well, a job is a job. I'm hungry—where's the caf?"

"Just follow one of the pilots."

There was loud laughter.

"I'll send someone to start unloading these right away."

The voices were growing quieter, and Luke could hear footsteps moving away. As soon as they could no longer be heard, Luke stood up.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here. You heard what they said."

Zev followed him as he walked carefully between the crates. When they reached the front, Luke started to wonder why this refueling station was so well lit. The outside walls appeared to be all white.

When he finally stepped out of the ship, he noticed two things. One was the clear view of space outside a huge square docking hatch at the far end of the room. The other was the entire squad of X-Wing fighters, resting in a neat row over the other side of the hangar. A couple of astromech droids were rolling around, but other than that, the room appeared mostly empty.

"Wow," Zev said, stepping out beside him. "We're on a ship! A Rebel ship!"

Luke felt his stomach twist into a knot. He was in _way_ over his head.

"Any ideas?" he said, finally. His voice sounded very unsteady.

"It's okay," Zev said, glancing at him. "They won't hurt us. I'm going to ask if I can join them."

"Join them?" Luke said. "Wait, what about me?"

"They could drop you off at the next spaceport," Zev said. "Then you could catch a transport to wherever you want to go."

"You're talking about these people like they're your relatives," Luke said. "These are _Rebels_. They fight the Empire. They'll toss us out the airlock." Luke pointed at the Imperial logo on Zev's uniform. "Especially when they see that."

"No, they won't." Zev hastily reached up to rip it off anyway. "They're not like that. They're just ordinary people fighting for an end to the Emperor's rule."

"You seem to know a lot about them," Luke said, glancing around nervously. They were standing out here in the open, and someone could come back any minute.

Zev shrugged. "I always planned to join them. I just thought it would be when I was older."

"Zev, I bet these people _hate_ my father," Luke said, quietly. "What if they recognize me? They could—someone's coming!"

He pulled Zev back into the freighter, and they ducked down behind some crates. They heard footsteps, and then a voice.

"Okay, I know you're in there! Come out slowly and keep your hands visible."

Zev stood up immediately. Luke followed slowly. They came into the view of a Nautolan dressed in coveralls. He was holding a blaster, but he lowered it slightly when they came to a halt in front of him.

"I've been watching you two on the security cameras," he said, staring at them with large, unblinking black eyes. "Who are you, where did you come from and what are you doing here?"

Luke looked at Zev. His friend cleared his throat.

"Um ... we're ... I'm ... Zev."

"Luke," Luke said, automatically.

"I want to join the Rebellion," Zev said, quickly. "We stowed away on the freighter so we could find you."

"You're dressed in Imperial junior cadet uniforms," he observed.

"We've just come from a cadet training camp," Zev explained. "My father made me go. Please, I really want to join."

By this stage, more people had entered the hangar. A Twi'lek female joined the Nautolan. When she spoke, Luke realized she must be the freighter captain.

"What's going on, Bran?"

"You picked up a couple of stowaways."

"Who are you," she said, staring at Luke and Zev in surprise.

"I'm Zev," Zev repeated. "This is my friend Luke. We were at the cadet training camp, but I want to join the Rebellion. We stowed away on your ship to get away."

She turned to the Nautolan. "The training camp is about five klicks from the depot. The Imperials are only there for a couple of months in the summer. Exclusive place—they use it for pre-officer training."

For the first time, Bran looked away from them. "You risked taking our cargo to an Imperial occupied world?!"

She shrugged. "It was the closest place to refuel."

Bran turned back to Zev and Luke. "If you want to join the Rebellion, why were you at an Imperial camp?"

"My father made me go," Zev repeated.

"What does your father do?" Bran asked.

Luke felt glad he hadn't asked him that.

"He's an Imperial officer," Zev said. "But I don't support the Empire."

"How old are you?" the freighter captain asked.

"Fifteen."

"And your friend?"

"I'm fourteen," Luke said, deciding that telling them his age might help convince them to let him go. The Twi'lek only smirked at his response.

"You're kids," she said, sounding slightly amused. "Do you Rebels employ babysitters?"

"Quiet, Netti," Bran said, annoyed.

"I don't want to join," Luke insisted. "I was just helping Zev get away from the camp. You can drop me off at a spaceport."

Bran stared at him silently. Luke looked at the floor, half wanting to cover his face. Zev saved him from any further inspection, however.

"I know I'm young," Zev said. "But I've got nowhere else to go ... my father leaves me in military school all year. I've been planning to join the Rebellion as soon as I was able."

"They could be spies," Netti said. "It would be just like the Empire to use children as spies."

They'd gained two more onlookers at this stage, one of whom looked like a pilot to Luke. He was dressed in an orange flight suit.

"They're not too young—I joined at thirteen. Take them to the captain."

"I was helping out my father on supply runs at twelve," Bran agreed. "And their story makes sense." He holstered his blaster. "Zev, Luke—we're sorry for the interrogation, but we have to be careful. Follow me now."

"I understand," Zev said.

Luke had to smirk at the use of the word interrogation. He had fielded more questions from his father when he arrived home five minutes after his curfew. Not that he was complaining. As he walked beside Zev, he could still feel curious eyes watching him. Was it his imagination, or had Netti been looking at him with more suspicion than she had Zev? Never in his life had he been so grateful for his father's efforts to shelter him from the media.

When they reached the captain's office, Bran pressed the doorcom. Shortly afterwards, the doors slid open and Bran walked on in. Zev followed next, and Luke hung behind. He risked a quick glance at the captain. He was a middle-aged human with a beard, and appeared fairly normal. On the surface, at least. He stood up as their minder explained where they'd come from and walked around to their side of the desk.

"Thank you for bringing them to me, Bran. You better finish unloading those supplies. I want to be back in hyperspace as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir."

Bran left. Once the doors had closed, the captain extended a hand to Zev.

"Zev! My boy, you've grown! What a surprise to see you."

"Captain Flenn?" Zev said. "What are you doing _here_?!"

"You know each other?" Luke asked.

"I was at the academy with Zev's father," the captain explained.

"He and my father used to be good friends," Zev said. "He visited us a lot after my mother died. But sir, I haven't seen you since ... my father never mentioned you'd joined the Rebellion."

"It only recently became public," the captain explained. "I've been working as a spy and double agent for many years. But there's only so long you can escape detection, I'm afraid." His gaze wandered to Luke.

"Sir, this is my friend Luke," Zev said. "He helped me get here, but he's not here to stay."

"I just need to be dropped off at a spaceport," Luke said. "That is ... if it's not any trouble. I don't want to be any trouble."

The captain studied him for a moment. "You look very familiar."

"Uh ... I have those kind of looks," Luke said.

If the captain heard the nervousness in his voice, he didn't say anything. Instead, he returned to sitting behind his desk.

"So, you really want to join us, Zev?"

"More than anything," Zev said, standing up straighter. "I know I'm young, but I'm old enough to know what I believe, and I believe in democracy and the dignity and freedom of the individual. I'll do what I can ... I can help out with odd jobs until I'm old enough to fight."

"You understand how dangerous this business is?"

Zev nodded.

"You will see death. You will see your comrades die, and you may lose your own life. Capture and torture is also a likely possibility. You will become a traitor to the state and unable to reside in any permanent address in much of the known galaxy. The Empire will put a bounty on your head, and stormtroopers will shoot you on sight. You will forfeit any possibility of a normal life. Are you sure you are ready?"

Luke was staring at the captain in surprise, wondering how anyone could willingly volunteer for such a hellish existence. He glanced at Zev, wondering if he should start talking him out of this.

"Are you trying to discourage me, sir?" Zev asked.

"I just want you to know that it's not too late. We can arrange a ride for you back to the camp, and no one need ever know you were here. But in a few hours time, it _will_ be too late."

"I've thought about this for years," Zev explained. "If I stay with the Empire, I'll continue to be fed the propaganda and lies until I'm old enough to be drafted into the navy. Then I'll have to help the Emperor oppress the galaxy. The downside to joining the Rebellion is nothing compared to that. I want to live knowing that I helped make a difference. That I tried to bring some freedom back into this galaxy. Some things are worth dying for."

The captain had been entering something into his computer while Zev was talking. Luke didn't notice at first, as he was listening to Zev's speech, but when the captain stood up, Luke began to sense something wasn't quite right. But Captain Flenn only smiled at Zev, and patted his shoulder.

"You are lucky, young Zev. I was twice your age before I realized what you know now. I only wish I was as wise when I was your age."

"Thank you, sir."

The captain turned to Luke and suddenly produced a viewscreen from behind his back. He held it up beside Luke's face. Luke reared back in pure reflex, but it was already too late. The captain turned the screen around to show both of them. It was a holo of Luke and his father, taken in the hallways of the Imperial palace. The various arrows and viewfinder marks made it look like some kind of spy photo. Luke felt his stomach twist into a tighter knot as the meaning behind this settled in. He _knew_.

"Luke, as in Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader's son, I take it?"

"Sir, he's not here to spy," Zev said, quickly coming to his defense. "We didn't even know we were coming to a Rebel ship."

"I swear, I won't tell my father anything about this," Luke insisted, holding up his hands. "He'd kill me if he knew where I was. _Please_ let me go."

"Relax," the captain said, sitting back on the surface of his desk. "Unlike the Empire, the Rebellion does not make prisoners of its enemy's children."

Zev gave him a look that said 'I told you', but it still didn't sit right with Luke. Even if the captain didn't intend to shoot him, would every other Rebel on the ship feel the same?

"I can leave the ship right now," Luke insisted. "Just drop me at the nearest port."

"Spaceports can be dangerous places for young people. I will arrange a transport—"

Captain Flenn was cut off by a loud alarm blaring through the comm system.

Luke looked up in curiosity, and then was thrown to the floor as a shudder ran through the ship. Zev helped him up, just as the captain ran for the door, not even pausing to offer them an explanation.

"What's happening?!" Zev asked, rushing to the viewport. He never made it, as more explosions rocked the ship.

"That was blaster fire!" Luke said. He crawled over to the window, with Zev close behind. In the distant surrounding space, a formation of TIE Fighters streamed past.

"They're running for hyperspace," Zev said, as the stars began to move faster. "An Imperial ship must be on their tail."

"They're going to think we led the Empire right to them!" Luke said.

There was another explosion, and Luke grabbed the window frame for support. Outside, the stars began to slow. They were losing speed.

"Let's get out of here," Zev said.

Luke didn't argue. They ran for the corridor and joined up with several other crewmembers running for the elevator. They crammed in the lift after them, hoping they would know the safest place to go.

"What's going on?" Luke asked the nearest one.

"A Star Destroyer. It's right on top of us ... they'll be boarding in the next ten minutes."

"Boarding?" Zev said. "What's going to happen?"

"Nothing for it. We're evacuating."

It soon became clear they were heading for the hangar bay. More and more crewmembers joined them on the trip down, until Luke was jammed tight against the wall. When the doors slid open on the hangar bay, Luke found a huge crowd of crew members, desperately running for various ships. The X-Wings had all gone, and Luke assumed they were providing covering fire while the smaller ships escaped. Messages were blaring over the intercom.

" _All military personnel to the upper decks_. _Techs, medics and pilots to the hangar bay. Attention, Imperial Troops will board the ship in two minutes_."

He and Zev were lost in the confusion, until a familiar face appeared beside them. It was Bran, the Nautolan who'd discovered them earlier.

"Come with me, boys. I've got room for two more. It'll be a tight squeeze, but we'll manage."

"I thought you'd think we were responsible for this," Zev said, running after him.

"I think Netti might have had something to do with it," he said. "She dumped the cargo and left while I was taking you to the captain."

Luke followed Zev until they were about to climb on board a small transport craft, but then he hesitated. A new message started blaring over the comm.

" _Imperial troops have boarded the ship!_ "

"Luke, come on!" Zev said, looking back. He reached out a hand to help Luke climb up, but Luke backed away.

"You go. I'll stay here."

"But—"

"I'd only be taking the place of someone who is really in danger," Luke said. "I'll stay here."

"You could be killed!"

A medic carrying a piece of equipment ran up alongside Luke. "Is there room on this ship?" he asked.

"Space for one more," Luke said, stepping aside.

The medic jumped on the boarding ramp just as the engines were starting to power up.

"Good luck!" Luke called to Zev.

Then the hatch was closed, and he knew it was time to take cover. Ships were taking off all around him. He ran for the elevators, deciding to make his way to the upper levels. The intercom messages had stopped broadcasting, and now there was only static as if someone had forgotten to switch off the mic.

It took ages for the elevator to arrive. When it did, Luke was thrown into it by the sound of a loud explosion behind. He looked over his shoulder, and saw someone had blown open the main doors to the hangar. He hastily pressed a button for an upper floor, causing the doors to slide shut. There was another loud explosion, then the surface of the elevator door compressed inwards. The sounds of blaster fire could still be heard, even as the elevator began to rise.

Luke crouched down and flattened himself against the wall, listening to his heart pounding against his ribs. He needed to find someone to surrender to. Someone who wasn't a stormtrooper. They would shoot first and ask questions later. There had to be a supervising officer somewhere around. Maybe on the bridge. According to the snippets of intercom messages he'd heard, the main fight had been in the corridors leading to the bridge.

What to do after that was another story. There was only one solution for an adventure that had gone this far awry. He would have to call his father. He could only imagine what he was going to say when he said he was stuck on some ship and he needed him to come and pick him up. Luke thought about it for a moment, and then decided he'd rather call Commander Hayge. That would be the perfect solution, if only he had bothered to take note of the camp comlink frequency.

By the time the elevator reached the bridge level, he was feeling a lot braver. He stepped out confidently, and looked left and right. The bridge must be at this end somewhere. He took one step forward, and then fell to the ground as a blaster shot hit the wall a few meters away from him.

"Freeze!"

Luke waved his hands in the air, and soon a stormtrooper stepped up behind him. He was dragged up and pinned against the wall.

"Identify yourself!"

"I ... I ... I'm not a Rebel!" Luke insisted. He stared down the barrel of the stormtrooper's blaster, wondering if this is where his life was going to end.

"Don't move! Why are you here?"

"I'm here by accident!" Luke said, surprised he was able to speak at all, considering how tight his throat was.

"An accident? Sure, kid," the trooper said. He did release him, though. "Keep your hands in the air."

The trooper kept his blaster trained on him and beckoned to someone with his other hand. A second stormtrooper approached.

"Put binders on him," the first trooper ordered the second. "We'll take him to the commander."

Luke's hands were roughly grabbed and locked into a pair of binders. The second trooper pushed him forward, while the first kept his blaster pressed against his back.

Luke swallowed, feeling utterly miserable as they began to walk down the corridor. They thought he was a Rebel. He would probably end up locked up in a prison cell, unless he could convince someone he really was Lord Vader's son. The more he thought about it, the more he realized no one would ever believe him in a million years. He was really in trouble now.

As they walked quickly towards their destination, Luke saw the walls were burned and smoking with the black remains of a blaster fight. Every so often they'd pass bodies of stormtroopers and Rebels. It made him feel nauseous. The fact that he was starving hungry, thirsty, tired and still damp didn't help.

Luke felt a tear well up in his eye as he was forced to step over the body of another fallen Rebel soldier. He would give anything to be back home now. Stars, he'd give anything to be back at the military camp. He found himself silently begging the Force to somehow make this all turn out all right. If only he could have this one chance, he would never do anything impulsive again. He would start listening to his father, and thinking before doing things and—

In an instant, all Luke's misery vanished in a sudden wave of familiarity. His head snapped up, and he swept his gaze around the corridor, seeking confirmation. It couldn't be ... that would be too good to be true. One of his stormtrooper guards reached out to guide him around a corner, and then Luke knew it wasn't just his mind playing tricks on him. There was no mistaking him—standing out starkly against the white ship walls, arms folded as he heard a report from an officer. It was the one person Luke had been longing to see.

 _Father!_ _FATHER!_

* * *


	9. Chapter 9

The sight of his son, standing in a place that by all rational expectation was impossible for him to be, filled Vader with both surprise and fear. Was he still meditating? Had this entire board and capture operation merely been an elaborate vision, conjured by the Force? He stared at Luke, half expecting another four copies of him to come running around the corner.

_Father!_

The mental shout was repeated, and Vader knew instantly that this was indeed reality.

_Luke?! What in the galaxy ..._

Luke started to run forward, but his stormtrooper watchers pulled him back roughly. They pushed him forward with the tips of the blaster barrels, almost causing Vader to say something in protest. The group came to a halt in front of him and Commander Wing. Luke stared up with an unrestrained relief in his shining blue eyes, and then grinned widely. Vader could sense him trying to test his mood over their link. At the moment, he was feeling nothing but absolute and total surprise.

"Sirs, we found this one near the bridge," one stormtrooper said, completely oblivious to the family reunion going on in front of him. "He was unarmed. Should we put him in with the Rebel soldiers or with the officers?"

"A child," the commander said, staring at Luke. "How typical of the Rebel scum, my lord. Save their own skins while leaving children behind."

 _I can explain!_ Luke sent. _I can explain everything!_

Vader couldn't bring himself to reply, either to Commander Wing or to his son's erratic telepathy.

"I doubt he knows much," the commander continued. "However, if he is the son of one of the Rebel officers, he could be useful as a tool to make them talk. He should be processed with the other prisoners. Do you agree, Lord Vader?"

Vader gave Luke one last disbelieving stare, and then turned to the commander.

"I am ... familiar with this particular Rebel. Leave him with me. I will interrogate him personally."

The commander turned to the troopers. "You heard Lord Vader. Return to your patrols."

The troopers saluted, and marched off down the corridor.

"Commander, I will leave this ship in your hands," Vader said. "Take what crew you need, and see about making any necessary repairs. The _Harbinger_ will provide escort to the Fondor ship yards, and then return to Coruscant."

"As you wish, my lord. I estimate we will be ready to detach in an hour. I will return to the bridge and supervise from there."

The commander saluted, and walked past Luke. Vader noticed he gave Luke a slightly sympathetic look as he passed by, clearly thinking he was going to be in for something very unpleasant. _You have no idea_ , Vader thought, meeting his son's gaze. His surprise had reduced, and had been replaced with another, more natural emotion. Anger.

He looked Luke up and down, seeing evidence of reckless behavior from the bottom of his muddy boots to the top of his bedraggled hair.

Luke tried a smile. "Interrogate me. Good one." He held up his binder-clad wrists. "Can we get rid of these?"

"I wasn't joking."

Luke's smile faded and he let his wrists fall. "Listen, this isn't as bad as it looks!"

"How can it possibly not be as bad as it looks?" Vader said, incredulous. "You are supposed to be at the camp on Kawai VI. Now I find you on a Rebel ship. There is a vast difference between those two locations, Son. Not merely measured in lightyears."

"Will you relax?" Luke said. "I haven't joined the Rebellion! I didn't even know this was a Rebel ship until I got here. My friend Zev at the camp needed to escape, so I helped him."

"You helped him join the Rebellion? Is that what you are telling me?"

"I ... uh ... why do you always twist things around to make it sound worse?"

"I do not need to twist anything. It is already unbelievably bad. Luke, you never cease to amaze me. I always imagine you cannot possibly top your last stunt, and then you make it your mission in life to prove me wrong. I thought stowing away on a bounty hunter's ship had to be the high point in your crusade to drive me to insanity, and now I find you roaming the galaxy with the Rebellion!"

"I have already said I didn't know it was the Rebellion," Luke said. "It was an acci—"

"Don't you _dare_ ," Vader said, waving a finger at him. If he heard those words one more time, something was going to snap.

Luke quickly shut up.

"You could have been _killed!_ Do you have any idea what these people would have done if they'd known you were my son?"

"The captain knew," Luke said, quietly. "He was going to transport me back to the camp. It was the stormtroopers who nearly shot me, not the Rebels."

"You were nearly _shot_?!"

"They missed by at least three meters," Luke insisted.

Vader stared at the ceiling for a moment, trying to release his anger into the Force. He could barely remember how to do that, it had been so long. A Sith Lord did not normally have need for restraint. But, of course, a Sith Lord normally didn't have to raise a teenage son. Eventually, Vader looked back down.

"What am I going to do with you?" He stared at Luke for a moment, and then said. "I feel like I have aged ten years in the last five minutes."

Luke stared at his boots. "I'm sorry."

"You are sorry. Is that all?"

"I don't know what else to say," Luke said. "Just that I'm really tired, hungry and wet. I thought I was going to end up in a prison cell. You've got no idea how glad I was to see you ..."

"Wet?" Vader said, confused. "How did you get wet?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Vader picked a piece of water-weed out of his son's hair, and then gave him a look that was a mix of sheer disbelief and ongoing frustration.

"Come with me," he said, finally, feeling more than a little weary.

* * *

Luke stayed close to his father as they moved through the corridors of the Star Destroyer. They appeared to be taking the back routes, as they encountered no one except droids and stormtroopers, who certainly didn't bother to stare at him or ask questions. At first, Luke was wary of his father's mood, and didn't want to make anything worse. But the excitement of being on such a huge ship soon became too much.

"Can I see the bridge?" he asked, quietly.

"It is good you have managed to maintain your sense of humor in all this," his father said, guiding him into a nearby elevator. He pushed the button for the hangar bay.

"Come on ... please?"

"No. I will not have you endearing yourself to the crew with your farmboy-in-space routine. Your presence here has thus far remained between us, and I intend to keep it that way. We will be leaving immediately."

"Farmboy in space?!" Luke said. "That's not fair."

"I believe we established a long time ago that I am not fair."

 _Too true_ , Luke thought.

There was silence until the elevator reached its destination. His father gripped his upper arm as they walked across the deck, and kept a firm hold until they reached a shuttle. Once on board, he was unceremoniously dumped in the co-pilot's seat.

"Don't touch anything. And don't move."

Luke bowed his head.

"I suppose it is pointless to ask if you have a change of clothes with you."

Luke flexed his shoulders, realizing his backpack was absent. The last time he remembered having it was when he and Zev were stowing away in the back of the freighter. A freighter that could be anywhere by now. Luke considered it, and then remembered Bran had told him the freighter's cargo had been dumped. Chances were that his belongings were among the crates.

"All my things are in my backpack," Luke said. "It's still on the Rebel ship ... most likely in the ship hangar, among the cargo. Maybe I should go back for it ..."

"What part of 'don't move' wasn't clear to you, Luke?"

Luke sighed.

"I will go back and retrieve your belongings. You will remain here, young one. That is an _order_."

"Yes, _sir_ ," Luke mumbled, sarcastically. Unfortunately, he'd become so used to saying that sincerely at camp it came out sounding less sarcastic than he liked. Regardless, his father chose to ignore it and he left the shuttle, moving quickly. Luke sunk his head down on the instrument panel, wondering when this day would be over.

* * *

Retrieving Luke's belongings from the Rebel ship took longer than Vader expected. Every three meters he was stopped by officers and stormtroopers needing guidance. Their inexperience was an annoyance, but he had to admit the boarding operation had gone as well as he could expect. Perhaps it was his overriding concern with his son, but he couldn't bring himself to care that a few minor ships had escaped. The loss of Captain Flenn, who had taken his own life along with several troops in a thermal detonator explosion, was a far greater annoyance, but even that couldn't compare to the fact of finding his son in this place of death and violence.

He could only hope his good fortune would continue, and word of Luke's presence on the _Harbinger_ would not be revealed. The last thing he wanted was "Darth Vader's Son: The Rebel!" headlines splashed all over the underground HoloNet. His master would not be impressed. The most important thing now was to return to Mustafar as soon as possible.

When he entered the shuttle, he found his son dozing with his head on the ship's controls, shivering slightly with cold. He released a weary breath as he placed the backpack beside him, and then turned to start the pre-flight warm up sequence.

"You should change out of your wet clothes," he said, taking a seat.

"A little difficult with these," Luke mumbled, holding out his bound wrists.

Vader waved a hand over them, causing them to fall to the deck with a clang. Luke made a half-hearted attempt to dig in his backpack, but then he sat back in the seat. He remained quiet until the shuttle launched, and Vader began calculating the jump to hyperspace.

"Where are we going?" he asked, softly.

Vader finished the calculations, and then waited for the navigation computer to confirm. Once it was finished, he pulled back the lever, sending the stars into streaks of blue light.

"Mustafar," he confirmed.

Luke visibly slumped with relief. "Home," he whispered. There was so much emotion behind the word, Vader glanced at him in surprise. This was a different tune from the usual mocking references to the 'lava fortress of doom' or 'your evil volcano lair'.

"You consider Mustafar to be home?" he enquired.

Luke shrugged. "Home is where you are," he mumbled, keeping his gaze averted.

An odd memory flickered through Vader's mind. Anakin, explaining his own philosophy of home to Padmé. _Home was always where my mom was_. He pushed it aside.

"This camp must have been hellish to change your opinion on the relative merits of Mustafar as a destination," Vader remarked.

Luke nodded. "I thought the commander would have told you," he said, looking at the floor. "He said he was going to contact you."

"He did. He said you were unhappy about the weather. And what is this about you threatening to choke someone?"

Luke visibly cringed. "That was taken out of context. I was having an argument with someone about ... well, it was about _you_. He said something, and then I said something ... anyway, it's not important. It wasn't the weather that was annoying."

"So the other boys were picking on you?"

Luke shook his head. "No. They were all right. I knew one already from school."

"You didn't enjoy spending time outdoors?"

Luke repeated the shrug. "It was pretty. So green. I guess I enjoyed some of the activities."

"Then what was it? Too many rules? Did the officers treat you badly?"

Luke shook his head. "They were fine. Well, apart from one, who was always picking on my friend Zev. You'd have liked him, which says it all. He hit him with a punishment stick."

"A punishment stick," Vader repeated. "Is that what I need to motivate you to behave?"

His tone was light, but Luke cringed at the words and fidgeted with the edge of the armrest. "I would prefer it to being sent away," he mumbled, pain evident in his voice.

Vader studied his son, realizing he was being entirely serious. It took him a moment to process the wider implications of Luke's words. It seemed he now had an answer as to why he was clearly so miserable at the camp.

"Luke, you attending the camp was not a punishment. It was a solution for the boredom you were experiencing on Coruscant."

His son did not reply. He appeared to be struggling with his emotions, and he brought a hand up to cover his eyes.

"Is this why you decided to go chasing after a Rebel ship?" Vader asked, having a troubling thought. Did his son imagine he had rejected him so thoroughly that running away was a viable option?

It took Luke a moment to respond. "I just wanted to help Zev get away from the officer who was mistreating him. So we stowed aboard a freighter. We had no idea it was going to a Rebel ship."

"Where did you think it would be going?" Vader asked, feeling his old annoyance flare up. Luke always offered such illogical explanations. "Did you expect to be taken back to Coruscant?"

"I don't know," Luke said, matching his annoyed tone. "All I know is that I helped out a friend in need. Maybe it got a little out of hand ... a lot out of hand. I'll learn from my mistake. If you want to disown me, then go ahead ... I'm sick of trying to meet your impossible expectations! You're always angry with me over something."

"Luke—"

"I can't do it," he said, his voice breaking with emotion. "I can't be perfect all the time. It didn't used to be like this. You used to … you just used to _handle_ it when I made mistakes. You didn't give up on me."

"I have never—"

"You did!"

He suddenly activated their mental link, and Vader was caught off guard. A rush of pained emotions flowed over the bond, threatening to choke him. He tried to mentally back away, but Luke was trying to communicate something. Memories of being dropped at the camp, and then his son's subsequent guilt over his lack of any goodbye. Images of another boy telling him of his own strained relationship with his father, causing fear and anxiety. Then a random mix of disgust and sadness over a variety of things, including the image of a dead stormtrooper, lying on the deck of the Rebel ship. A confused rush of feelings and images that made little sense followed this, until Luke finally released the link, and slumped back in exhaustion.

"Warn me before doing that," Vader complained. Being fourteen once was bad enough. Having to relive it through his son's turbulent emotions was not how he would have chosen to have this conversation.

"I don't want us to end up like Zev and his father," Luke said, sounding near tears.

Vader took a slow breath, considering how to approach this. Luke was right in some respects. He did used to _handle_ it. At least, as far as Luke was aware. He kept all his second-guessing and insecurities about his abilities as a parent well hidden. Something had slipped in the first weeks of this summer vacation, and he knew why. It was difficult to project an air of confidence when you were battling your own inner fears.

All this had left his son feeling insecure and fearful. He needed his reassurance. But as usual, the words didn't come easily. Lecturing him always felt more natural than admitting that he cared. It was easier to let their bond take care of that, but he wasn't risking that again. At least until his son was feeling calmer.

"I am not always angry with you," he said, finally. "And expecting you to not recklessly endanger your life is _not_ impossible."

Luke made a vaguely disagreeable noise.

"I have no desire to disown you. You are my son, and no amount of reckless behavior will ever change that."

This time, Luke was silent.

Vader paused for a moment, recalling some fuzzy details from his most recent vision. He knew what he had to say. Even the subconscious characters in his mind knew what he had to say. It didn't make it any easier.

"Luke, do you ever consider how it makes _me_ feel when you purposely endanger your life?"

"I know it makes you angry."

"Why do you think it makes me angry?"

"Because you're a Sith Lord?"

"Try again."

Luke sighed. "Because you don't want to lose me."

"If your life should be lost needlessly ... it would devastate me. I can't imagine a future without you by my side."

Luke looked up, taken aback. "I ... really?"

Vader paused, taking strength from the Force. He met Luke's gaze. "When I lost your mother, my life was ... destroyed. I spent years trying to piece it back together. When you resurfaced it was like I was given a second chance. If I should lose you ..."

"It wouldn't be your fault," Luke said.

"I am your father. It is my job to protect you."

"You can't stop me from making mistakes," Luke said. "I can't live without endangering myself sometimes."

"You could try a lot harder."

Luke opened his mouth to argue, but then simply nodded. "Things just seem to get a little crazy sometimes."

"And sometimes I am not providing the attention you need," Vader admitted. "I suspect this is your way of letting me know."

Luke looked away for a moment, not agreeing, but not outright denying, either. Vader knew it was hard for his son to admit to needing his attention. He liked to present himself as independent and mature, not needing anyone to watch out for him, but today's incident indicated more than ever that his son still needed his father. If only to bail him out when things fell outside his control.

"But you are right," Vader continued. "I have been letting my emotions cloud my judgement. Losing my temper is not productive. You already know my expectations, so endlessly repeating them is not productive. You need consistent consequences when you fail to meet them."

"Okay," Luke said, sounding cautious. "Um … when you say _consequences_ … you don't mean you're going to send me back to the camp when we reach Mustafar, right?"

"No. I think your time would be better put to use cleaning out the fuel regulator vents on every ship in the hangar.'

Luke's mouth fell open. "But that will take weeks!"

"Then it is fortunate you have weeks. While you are completing your task, you can meditate on the wisdom of considering all the risks involved before doing anything. For example, the risks of stowing away on a freighter when you do not know its destination."

Luke sighed. "And what are you going to do?" he asked, his voice suggesting he considered this a pretty raw deal so far.

"Continue to show an inhuman amount of patience."

Luke rolled his eyes.

"And," Vader continued, "I require your help with my modifications to the escort shuttle weapons array. When we are finished, you can come for a test flight. Perhaps we will visit some of the neighbouring systems."

"Really?!" Luke said, his eyes lighting up.

"I also have an idea for a droid building project."

"Sounds great!" Luke said. "Could you also help me with that spare N1 starfighter engine? I got stuck with it last time. I think I need some parts."

"Very well."

"I'll get it out as soon as we get back. How long until hyperspace reversion?"

"Young one," Vader said, firmly.

"Okay, okay. You're right. I'll need a shower first." He smiled then. "You sure you don't want to hear about where the waterweed came from?"

"No."

* * *

After Vader found a survival blanket in the shuttle's first aid pack, Luke soon drifted off into a nap, slumping down in the co-pilot's seat with the restraints secured around him. He reached out to wake him when they landed in the Mustafar fortress, causing Luke to make a groaning noise and rub at his eyes.

Vaneé stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp, calm as always, but with an added air of surprise.

"I didn't expect you to return so soon, my lord. Are there any prisoners to process? Did you manage to find Captain Flenn?"

"No prisoners," Vader confirmed. There were footsteps at the top of the ramp, and Vaneé's eyes grew wide. "Only one wayward offspring."

Luke never had bothered to change out of his damp and muddy clothes, and he certainly looked a sight under the hangar floodlights. But Vaneé only had an avuncular smile for him, and he reached out to take Luke's backpack.

"Welcome home, young Luke. Let's get you upstairs."

"I don't suppose you have received any communications from the camp?" Vader asked.

"Not a word, sir."

"I think I need to give them a call."

"Don't threaten to kill anyone!" Luke said, waving a finger in the direction of his chest. He paused to yawn. "I mean it! I was banned from doing outdoor activities because of you and your threats."

"What in space have you been doing?" Vaneé said, brushing grass from Luke's backpack.

"Long story," Luke said. "Have you ever tried to disable a force field over a river before?"

"I can't say I have, young man."

Vader watched them leave, idly thinking that, despite everything, it was a relief to have his son back where he could keep an eye on him. Then he made his way to the workroom, going straight to the comm terminal.

By his guess, it was past midnight at the training camp. But the commander answered his call immediately. It was tempting to pretend that he didn't know Luke was missing, just to see how long they would attempt to delay telling him, but such games would require more patience than he possessed right now.

"Commander Hayge," Vader said. "I believe you are missing something."

"We are doing everything we can to—"

Vader held up a hand. "Fortunately for you, he managed to find his way back to me."

"I ... I'm glad to hear it."

"I should have you all executed," Vader said. "But then, I also have a personal insight into how hard it is to get my son to stay in one place. I congratulate you for keeping him there for as long as you did. However, I believe the rest of his vacation will be better spent receiving some personal attention from his father."

"I understand, sir. It was a pleasure having him with us. Sir, if I may ask ... what of Cadet Veers? We assumed they were together, as they went missing at the same time."

Vader absorbed the words, realizing that 'Cadet Veers' must be this friend Luke spoke of that had joined the Rebellion. The name was familiar.

"According to my son, he was last seen in the company of Rebels," Vader explained.

The commander frowned and dropped his gaze. "His father will be devastated."

Vader was about to make some disparaging remark about said father's parenting skills, but a thought made him hesitate. It could just as easily be him in that position. Luke had expressed his dislike of the Emperor on more than one occasion. It wouldn't take much for the Rebel idealists to spin their poisonous lies and mislead his naive young offspring into their traitorous cause. He was the last person who should pass judgement.

"Send him my personal condolences," Vader said. "And remind him that all is not lost. We have successfully reeducated Rebels before. Many come to see the error of their views and return to our fold."

"Very true, sir."

"This defection may hint of a new recruiting tactic among the Rebellion," Vader added. "Adolescents are especially vulnerable to Rebel propaganda. I imagine some would defect simply to spite their parents."

"The enemy truly has no honor," the commander said. "To prey on the young and vulnerable. I assure you, sir, there will be no further defections among my cadets. We will make sure of that."

"See that you do."

Vader cut the call. He stared at the blank holoprojector for a while, considering the situation. Perhaps he should make more of an effort to discuss the political situation with Luke. But some part of him had wanted to preserve his son's innocence as long as possible. Even to give him the kind of childhood he never had. But if today's events had proven anything, it was that Luke was never going to have a normal life.

A short time later, he crossed the main entrance hall and passed through the gate to the elevators, intending to go and check on his son. He encountered Vaneé in the hall outside Luke's room, a service droid close behind him. The droid appeared to be carrying a bag filled with Luke's soiled camp uniform, while Vaneé carried a half-drunk mug of warm milk.

"Out like a light, my lord. It seems he has had a busy day."

"An understatement," Vader said. He hoped Luke hadn't mentioned to Vaneé exactly where his father had found him.

When he entered the bedroom, he found his now freshly-showered son was lying in the middle of the bed, curled up in a deceptively innocent fetal position. A blanket with a TIE fighter pattern was half-draped over him, and Vader reached out to adjust it. Luke stirred slightly, shifting his face into the pillow.

"Night, Dad," he mumbled. "Sorry … 'bout the … Rebel thing."

Vader reached out to pat his shoulder. If only he was like this all this all the time, perhaps even he could manage another four identical Lukes. Or perhaps even a daughter.

* * *

**Epilogue**

* * *

Vader stood in front of the elevator in the Imperial Palace, marveling at how good he felt. He would almost go as far to say that he was in a favorable mood. It had been a long time since anyone could say that of him. This truly was a day blessed by the Force.

It was true that the galaxy was plunged further into war as each day passed, and his master grew more demanding by the day. It was also true that he lived in constant pain and isolation behind a restrictive life support device. His past may torment him, and depression and anger may be his constant companions, but none of that mattered today. Today was _the_ day.

Down the corridor, a door slid open with a hissing sound. Luke stepped out, hanging his head like he was going to the dentist. A bag was slung loosely over his right shoulder. It was a slow journey down the corridor, as his son reluctantly put one boot in front of the other, until he was standing a short distance away from Vader.

"How is my favorite son this morning?" Vader enquired.

There was no response.

"You seem unusually dispirited," Vader noted. "What could possibly depress you on such a fine day?"

"And you seem in an unusually good mood," Luke said, giving him an irritated glance. "Stop rubbing it in. And don't play innocent—you know very well what's wrong. You've probably had this day programmed into your calendar for weeks!"

Vader tried, but he couldn't quite keep the amusement out of his voice. "I thought you liked school."

"Not the first day back after summer vacation!"

Vader revealed a black folded box from behind his back. "Here. Something to improve your mood."

Luke accepted the box, and lifted the lid. When he looked back up, his eyes were wide with surprise.

"A packed lunch?"

"I had the droids make it with all your favorite foods."

"Thanks," Luke said, stowing it away in his school bag. "But nothing will improve my mood today."

"I have enough time to give you a ride to school," Vader suggested. "We could take one of the custom-built speeders and impress your classmates."

"Having you drop me off at school wouldn't impress anybody," Luke said. " _Terrify_ people, maybe."

"All the more reason."

Luke shook his head, and then smirked. "You just want to make sure I actually make it through the doors."

Vader waved a finger at his son. "Can you blame me?"

"Come on," Luke said. "I haven't given you any grief since the Rebel ship."

"I know. It makes me suspicious. I wonder if there is some pending disaster on the horizon."

"Oh, I have something in the works," Luke said. "You know me. Full of surprises."

Vader joined him in the elevator, intent on seeing his son to the exit corridor, even if he couldn't take him right to the door of his classroom. Luke was right—that would cause more terror than good.

"By the way," Luke said, looking up. "I've been meaning to ask you something ever since we got back from Mustafar."

Vader had a funny feeling he knew what the question would be, but he played along.

"Proceed."

"Remember that droid I built? The one you called REQ-Less 1? I haven't seen him since I left."

"Perhaps you should ask Artoo for an explanation."

"I did. He denies even knowing what I'm talking about. Why ... you don't mean ... he's gone?" Luke looked up in surprise.

"It might have been possible to piece the wreckage back together," Vader said, considering it. "However, it appears even the remains were destroyed while I was on Mustafar."

"I don't believe this!" Luke said. "Artoo destroyed him?! The droid I spent a week building?! Why? How?"

"Go easy on him, son," Vader said, feeling his mood improve even further. "It was an accident."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, all.
> 
> Zevulon Veers, the son of General Veers from ESB, is a character from the Star Wars: Dark Empire comic book series from the mid-90s. In the Star Wars EU, he didn't join the Rebellion until he was older, but the character fit well here so I adapted it.


End file.
